


Private

by BleachFox



Category: Bleach
Genre: Drama, M/M, Romance, Yaoi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-24
Updated: 2015-02-24
Packaged: 2018-03-14 23:28:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 62,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3429434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleachFox/pseuds/BleachFox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They were rivals, in and out of school, enemies, opponents, and opposites, whatever you wanted to call it. But maybe, there was something else? All it took was one mistake and their seemingly simple relationship is thrown into chaos. What did they truly want from each other?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Private:

\- They were rivals, in and out of school, enemies, opponents, and opposites, whatever you wanted to call it. But maybe, there was something else? All it took was one mistake and their seemingly simple relationship is thrown into chaos. What did they truly want from each other?

Disclaimer: I do not own any right to Bleach or any of the characters in the story. 

Warnings: Yaoi (boy x boy), swearing

 

Chapter 1:

"Ichigoo!" The orange head sighed and stopped at the shout of his name, turning to wait for Renji to catch up with him.

“What Renji?”

"We have our next class together."

Ichigo groaned and rubbed his face. "Great, what class is it?"

"History."

He sighed heavily and stopped to grab his books from his locker. "I hope you're going to be taking notes, I'm planning to sleep."

“When do I ever slack in lessons?” Renji asked him with mock offence.

“All the time.” Shutting the locker with a grin, he turned and the grin instantly morphed into a scowl. Renji rolled his eyes, the only time Ichigo looked like that was when he saw someone he definitely hated. Only one person in the school could make him scowl that deeply.

“Hey Kurosaki! Are you and Abarai planning your next date? You’re looking pretty close over there.”

Ichigo snorted and secured his bag on his shoulder, his eyes narrowing slightly. “You wish Jaeggerjaques. You’re just pissed because I won’t give you a second glance.”

Grimmjow grinned, pushing away from leaning against the wall to stand in front of Ichigo and look down at him. "Trust me when I say, if I wanted your ass, I would've had it by now."

The two stood watching each other quietly, the electrified atmosphere almost tangible. Finally, Ichigo scoffed and brushed past Grimmjow, purposefully nudging his shoulder. "Whatever you say blue. You coming Renji?"

Renji nodded and sighed in relief as they walked away; thankful the two hadn't started fighting in the hallway, as they so often did. They had never seen eye-to-eye on anything, even in pre-school they'd fought over the same toys, drinks, chairs, you name it and they fought for it. Renji couldn't count the amount of times one of them had to be taken to the nurse’s office because of broken noses, black eyes and even once a broken wrist when it really got out of hand.

He glanced at Ichigo as the man walked ahead of him, muttering what he assumed was insults towards Grimmjow as he went. Noting Ichigo's hands were shaking slightly, Renji frowned, he didn't usually get so riled up over a simple conversation.

"Ichigo?"

He slowed down and sighed, glancing at Renji quickly. "Yeah?"

"Why didn't you respond to his comment?"

"What comment?"

Renji hesitated when Ichigo's voice sharpened slightly, knowing he was walking on thin ground. "When he said if he wanted you, he could have you. You didn't deny it."

"So?"

"Would you? I mean, if he tried it on with you... Would you go through with it?"

Ichigo stopped and turned around to glare at him. "Like hell I'd let that bastard touch me. I may be gay, but I'm not desperate."

Renji sighed in relief and slung an arm around Ichigo's shoulders with a grin. "That's good to know. If you told me that all these years you've actually had a secret crush on the guy, I would've freaked."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, elbowing Renji in the ribs so he removed his arm. "Trust me, there is nothing but hate between us."

Noting that Renji was satisfied with his answer, they entered the classroom and sat down quickly, already being a few minutes late but thankfully the teacher didn’t question their arrival. Sitting down with a small sigh, Ichigo pulled out his books and slumped back in his seat to gaze unseeingly at the front.

He hadn’t been completely honest with Renji earlier. Although he did hate Grimmjow, he did note their similarities, they probably would’ve been good friends if they could tolerate each other’s presence, or maybe even more. Ichigo would admit to himself, but never aloud, that Grimmjow was a decent looking guy, ok maybe more than decent but still, he would never admit it. Tapping his pen absentmindedly, Ichigo didn’t notice Renji glance at him in confusion as he continued staring blankly at the board.

_Maybe, if things had been different when we were younger, Grimmjow and I would’ve been friends, we do have a lot in common unfortunately. But what I said was true; I wouldn’t let him touch me even if he was the last guy on earth… I think._

Ichigo sat up straighter, his eyes widening in shock as the pen slipped from his hand.

_No way… I can’t seriously consider that, can I? No, definitely not. I hate him, end of story. I definitely don’t find him attractive in any way. God dammit Renji! This is your fault for mentioning it earlier! I don’t want Grimmjow, no way in hell._

“Ichigo?” Renji shook his arm gently as his friend looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown, gripping the table hard enough to turn his knuckles white. “Ichigo snap out of it.”

He started slightly and exhaled, slowly loosening his grip on the table and turning to look at Renji with wide eyes. “Yeah?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you man? You looked like you were going to start hyperventilating.”

Ichigo shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, smiling reassuringly. “Don’t worry about it Renji, I’m fine.”

“If you say so. Just try not to freak out in class, we were already late, we don’t need any more attention.”

“Only you would be worried about getting into trouble if I had a breakdown. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.”

Renji rolled his eyes as Ichigo slumped forward, resting his head on the open book. “Pretty much, my dad will kill me if I get kept behind again this week.”

“Your dad’s a hard ass.”

“At least mine isn’t psychotic.”

Ichigo snorted and closed his eyes. “Whatever, I’m going to sleep now. Wake me when class ends.”

“Sure thing sleeping beauty.”

…

Ichigo managed to get through the rest of the day without his revelation becoming known. A real achievement in his mind considering how confused he felt. It was one thing to discover he didn't exactly hate Grimmjow anymore, it was a whole other level to think he held an attraction for him.

Dodging his father's flying kick, Ichigo shut the door with a sigh and stepped over him, not sparing him a second glance. "As usual dad, you won't get me." He ruffled Yuzu's head as she glanced out the kitchen and she squealed before pouting and fixing her hair.

"Ichi-nii!"

He chuckled and grinned at her. "Nice to see you too Yuzu." With a wave of his hand at Karin who snorted and returned to flicking through TV channels, he headed upstairs. Dumping his bag on the floor he pulled out his phone when it beeped, a familiar set of numbers flashing across the screen. "Well shit."

He may not have saved the number, but he knew it well enough by now to know it was Grimmjow's. The man had never told him how he'd gotten his number and he'd never questioned it. Why Grimmjow insisted on texting him was beyond fathom for him, but he couldn't help but notice his stomach flutter as he opened the text.

_Hey Kurosaki you free later?_

He snorted, quickly sending a reply before sitting down with a groan to do his homework, since he wouldn't have the chance that night. _Yeah, why?_

Only waiting a few minutes for a reply, he smiled and picked up the phone. _Meet me at the Dojo around eight, we didn't get to finish our conversation earlier._

_Wasn't much of a conversation if you ask me but whatever. See you later blue._

Throwing the phone on his bed to remove his distraction, he turned back to the paper in front of him and sighed. Two words, his name. They counted right? Only a hell of a lot more to go.

...

When the paper was finally done, Ichigo groaned in relief and dropped his pen. Standing up, he tucked it back into his bag before heading for a quick shower, if he had to meet Grimmjow, he'd rather be alert than half asleep. Pulling on clean clothes, he dodged Isshin again at the bottom of the stairs and kissed Yuzu's head quickly.

"See you later guys."

"Where are you going Ichi-nii?"

"My darling son?! Do you have a secret boyfriend I'm not aware of? Why didn't you tell me?!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes as Isshin glomped him, slowly worming his way out of the hug. "No, I'm not going on a date. I've just got something to take care of. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

He left quickly before Isshin tried to stop him, shoving his hands in his pockets with a sigh as he headed towards the Dojo. For months now, he and Grimmjow had been meeting up in secret and sparring. It was a hell of a lot easier for him to fight with Grimmjow when they weren't stopped or interrupted like they were so often in school.

Stopping outside the Dojo, Ichigo unlocked the doors and went in, turning on the lights so he could set up the room. Lucky for him his uncle owned the place and had given him the spare set of keys, hell he was the one who suggested they use the Dojo to 'work on their issues'. Ichigo thought at the time Urahara was crazy, until he began to notice he could tolerate Grimmjow's presence at school after a few weeks.

Finishing setting up the mats, Ichigo went in the changing room, shedding his hoodie and jeans as he went before pulling on his shorts and tight top. Throwing his things into his locker, Ichigo headed back into the main room, pausing when he saw Grimmjow stood waiting for him. The man grinned and dropped his bag on the edge of the room, walking to the middle to wait for Ichigo to join him.

"How long you been waiting Kurosaki?"

Ichigo rolled his shoulders, joining him in the centre. "Only just got here myself blue. What took you so long?"

Grimmjow's grin turned predatory, switching Ichigo into offensive mode, just the sight of it made him wary. He knew from experience not to underestimate Grimmjow.

"So what did you need to finish about our conversation today?"

"Kitten, seeing you is enough to get me riled up any day. We haven't met up in a while and I bet you're itching for a fight too."

Ichigo rolled his eyes at the ridiculous pet name, he knew Grimmjow did it to throw him off but still, it was strange. "So why are we stood here talking?"

"My thoughts exactly."

He lunged forward and Ichigo quickly blocked the attack, dodging to the side as his own grin formed. Yeah he would admit it, he loved fighting and Grimmjow was the type of opponent he needed. Sharp enough to keep up with him and strong enough provide a challenge.

Swinging his leg around, Ichigo caught Grimmjow's side, making him stumble back slightly. "What's wrong Jaeggerjaques? You seem a bit slow tonight." Darting forward, he caught the man's arm and kicked his legs from under him, making them both crash to the floor. "You sure you came here to fight me?"

Whatever daze Grimmjow was in, he quickly snapped out of it and Ichigo suddenly found himself being pinned to the mats. "What were you saying Kurosaki? I'm the slow one around here?"

Ichigo scowled and attempted to get free, failing miserably and cursing himself mentally. He let his guard down, he knew Grimmjow was stronger than him and he'd played right into the bastards hands.

"Get the hell off me!"

"Now now, that's not very polite is it?" Grimmjow mockingly chided, pinning Ichigo's wrists above his head with one hand and using the other to tap the furious teen's nose. "How about asking more nicely and I might do as asked?"

"Fuck you!"

He rolled his eyes and chuckled. "You get riled up so easily, it's quite funny."

"It's hard not to with your annoying ass around me!" Ichigo again attempted his plight for freedom, freezing when Grimmjow's free hand was suddenly on his hip. "What the hell are you doing?!"

Grimmjow frowned in confusion. "I thought that'd be obvious. I'm restraining you idiot."

Ichigo let out a deep breath and closed his eyes, hitting his head on the mats. _Calm down Ichigo, he's only stopping you moving, nothing else. Don't freak out, he's not doing anything to you._

"What the hell are you doing? It looks like your attempting to meditate or some shit."

Ichigo's eyes snapped open so he could glare at Grimmjow. "I'm actually trying to think of a plan."

"Oh yeah, how's that going?"

Ichigo scoffed before sighing. "Are you gunna let me go or not?"

"Not until you ask nicely and admit defeat."

"Never."

Grimmjow shrugged, his trademark smirk in full bloom. "Well I've got all night, don't know about you."

"I fucking hate you!"

"Yeah I love you too princess."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Ichigo scowled at Grimmjow, his mind working overtime to figure out how to get free. Surprisingly enough, he came up with nothing. With a sigh, he tried again to wriggle free, growling when Grimmjow's hand slipped under his shirt to press on his stomach.

"What the hell Jaeggerjaques?!"

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow as Ichigo's voice went up an octave, sensing his discomfort. "What's wrong? You nervous about something?"

"Get your hand away before I break it off!" Ichigo struggled fruitlessly in Grimmjow’s grip, getting more worked up by the second. “I swear to god I’m gunna beat the shit out of you if you don’t let me go right now!”

Grimmjow snorted and let go of the distressed teen, moving to rock back on his heels. “Calm yourself down, it’s not like I aint touched you before.”

“Touched?! That was far more than touching! That was fucking caressing!” Ichigo scooted backwards, sighing in relief when is back hit one of the support beams and some distance was put between them. “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

“Me? You’re the one freaking out. You think that was caressing?” He stood up and walked over to Ichigo before crouching down in front of him. With a slight frown, he reached out and cradled Ichigo’s face in his hands, running his thumbs across his cheeks. “There you go, now you can get pissy about me ‘caressing’ you.”

Ichigo couldn’t find any words to respond at the affectionate gesture. His heart fluttered wildly against his ribcage and he was having a hard time trying to explain his reaction to himself, let alone to Grimmjow who was watching him with a weird look in his eyes. He grasped the older teen’s wrists tightly, refusing to let go when Grimmjow went to pull away.

“Kurosaki?”

“Yeah?” He asked breathlessly, not sure what the hell he was doing but went with the flow despite himself.

“What are you doing?”

Ichigo didn’t respond with words since his mouth wouldn’t open and even if it could, he didn’t know what he would say. Acting on something he’d never felt before, he let go of Grimmjow’s wrists and grabbed his collar, forcefully pulling their faces together and pressing his lips to the ones mere millimetres in front of him.

Ok, he would admit it; the kiss was nice, maybe more than nice. Ichigo pulled away the moment he’d realised what he’d done, intent on apologising and attempting to survive what he was sure would be Grimmjow’s furious outburst.

“Shit, I’m sorry.” He covered his mouth and went to move away, only to be stopped by Grimmjow grasping his shoulders. He turned to look at him and smiled nervously. “How about we forget that just happened and you let me go?”

Grimmjow made an indistinguishable noise, something in between a growl and snarl that had Ichigo instantly pushing on his chest. Before he could react, a hand was at the back of his head, pulling him back and he felt Grimmjow’s lips crash against his own.

Unlike before, Ichigo felt an unmistakable need in the kiss; drawing him closer to match it with his own and he pressed his body as close as possible to Grimmjow’s. Ichigo couldn’t help it, when Grimmjow’s hand slipped in his shorts to grasp his ass, he moaned and started rocking his hips. If it was any other situation, he would’ve been thoroughly embarrassed by what was happening, but at that moment, he couldn’t care less.

Suddenly, the pieces clicked together in his mind and Ichigo froze. He was kissing Grimmjow. Grimmjow, someone he supposedly hated. So why the hell was he making out with him like there was no tomorrow?! Pulling away, Ichigo broke out of Grimmjow's hold and crawled backwards quickly, his eyes never leaving the confused blue ones watching him. 

When the man made a move towards him, Ichigo stumbled to his feet and shook his head slightly. His rabbit in the headlights effect shattered and his panic escalated. Not knowing what else to do, he ran.

"Ichigo!"

It wasn't until Ichigo got home and stopped outside the clinic door that he realised Grimmjow had used his first name, something he'd never done before. And he didn't lock up before leaving, his uncle was going to kill him. But on a more serious note, what that hell was he thinking?

Opening the door, Ichigo quietly slipped in and breathed a sigh of relief to find the house was dark. If his family was up and saw him in his current condition, they'd ask questions he definitely didn't have answers to. Stealthily making his way to his room, Ichigo lay down on the bed and groaned, rubbing his face.

_What the hell just happened? I must be dreaming, that's it. No way any of this is real. Me and Grimmjow? Never, never in a million years and beyond that. Even the thought it ridiculous. Fuck that kiss... The way he touched me... No-one’s made me feel like that before._

He sat up and shook his head. "Stop it Ichigo, you sound like a school girl. It was a mistake and it will never, ever happen again." With a sigh he got up to change into his pyjamas, knowing he was in for a rough night when he got into bed. "Stupid Grimmjow, messing with my head..."

...

Ichigo was beyond pissed when he woke up the next morning and couldn't find his phone, realising that he'd left it at the Dojo. With an aggravated sigh, he got up and went to shower quickly. He managed to startle his family when he finally went downstairs, slamming the front door shut without a word to any of them.

"Well what's wrong with Ichigo?"

"My poor darling son! He must be in some trouble and is protecting his family!"

Karin snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah right. I think he's in a mood, again."

...

When Ichigo got to the dojo, he let himself in since the place was still unlocked. At least now his uncle was there. With a sigh he went to find him, intent on apologising for leaving the place unlocked the night before. Spotting sight of the man who indicated at his office before going in. Ichigo reluctantly followed and shut the door behind him.

"Uncle Kisuke..."

The man looked at him with a grin. "What's wrong Ichigo, you sound like you've done something."

Ichigo frowned in confusion. "I left the place unlocked last night, aren't you mad? Isn't that why you want to speak to me in your office?"

Urahara chuckled and picked up a folded piece of paper from the table, holding it out for Ichigo to take. "Everything was locked up when I got here this morning. There was this taped to the door, it has your name on it."

Ichigo took the paper hesitantly. "Thanks." His uncle stood to leave, patting his shoulder as he went before leaving Ichigo alone. Ichigo looked down at the paper and sighed heavily, slowly opening it.

_'We need to talk about last night, even if you don't want to. To make sure you actually will, I've taken your phone too when I got the keys. If you want it back, come talk to me. - Grimmjow'_

Ichigo groaned and dropped the note on the table, rubbing his face roughly. "Fucking great." Quickly making his way to the locker room, he opened his, hoping beyond all doubt his phone was still there. No such luck and he growled, slamming the door shut. "I'm going to kill him."

He left the Dojo and walked down the street, frowning in thought. Why the hell does Grimmjow want to talk to me? What could he possibly have to say? I don’t even know how to find him; I don’t know where he lives.

“Kurosaki!”

Ichigo stopped and turned, watching quietly as Nnoitra Gilga, one of Grimmjow’s friends, ran over. “What do you want?”

The taller teen shook his head and sighed. “Why Grimmjow has taken an interest in you I don’t know, but he wants to meet up with you.”

“Where?”

He jerked his thumb behind him. “The park back there, about five minutes.”

Ichigo eyed him sceptically and folded his arms. “If he’s there, why did he send you? He could’ve easily come himself.”

Nnoitra shrugged. “Beats me. Better hurry your ass over there before he leaves.” With that, he walked around Ichigo and left, leaving the smaller teen to growl in frustration before heading in the opposite direction as indicated.

As told, five minutes later he happened across a small park and headed over with a small sigh. Catching sight of Grimmjow sat on a bench, he slowly approached him and sat down. "Can I have my phone now?" Holding out his hand expectantly, Ichigo looked at Grimmjow with a flat expression, even if he was anything but calm on the inside.

Grimmjow grinned and put his hand in his pocket, pulling out Ichigo's phone to hand it over. "There you go."

"Thanks." Ichigo made a move to stand up and leave, since he had no intentions to talk. He was halted when Grimmjow's hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled him back.

"The condition on getting your phone was that we talked."

Ichigo turned to look at him, his eyes narrowing in annoyance. "What could we possibly have to talk about?"

"How about last night? Sounds like a good starting point to me."

He snorted and jerked his arm free, settling back with a huff since he knew Grimmjow wouldn't let him go. "What's there to say? We kissed, it was a mistake and it won't happen again. End of story."

"Says the one who started it."

"Could you be more childish? Yes, I may have kissed you first. Doesn't change the fact that it shouldn't have happened." 

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and lent forward, resting his hand behind Ichigo. "Are you sure about that?"

Ichigo gulped but found he couldn't back away. "This is wrong."

"Then why does it feel so good?"

Before Ichigo could respond, he moved to cup the back of his neck and bent down to kiss him. Ichigo stiffened initially; slowly melting into the kiss when Grimmjow's other hand touched his face, lifting his head to deepen the kiss. They broke apart quickly when someone cleared their throat and Ichigo hid his face in embarrassment.

Grimmjow turned to find the park warden stood watching them, his face set with stern disapproval. "Yes?"

"Could you kindly keep your contact to a minimum? You might make people uncomfortable."

"Of course, sorry for the inconvenience." Grimmjow smiled charmingly, sighing when the man finally left before pulling away to eye Ichigo's blushing face. "You ok?"

Ichigo pushed away from him and scooted to the edge of the bench, folding his arms over him chest. "We shouldn't have done that." Running a shaking hand through his hair, he stood up quickly. "We need to keep our distance."

"Ichigo..."

"No, seriously, we can't do this." Ichigo started backing up when Grimmjow stood up, accidently slamming into a tree. "S-stop."

He stuttered as Grimmjow advanced on him, trapping him against the tree. "If you want me to stop, tell me you still hate me. Tell me you don't want this."

Ichigo's breathing hitched when Grimmjow leant forward, quickly covering the man's face. "I don't want to do this." Grimmjow frowned and attempted to pull Ichigo's hands away. "I still hate you." Ichigo's voice hardened and he pushed Grimmjow away, his scowl reforming. "I don't want to fucking do this."

"So why did you let me kiss you again?" Grimmjow shoved his hands in his pockets, his own voice hardening in annoyance. "Surely you wouldn't have kissed back if you hated me."

"I don't know!" Ichigo sighed and rubbed his face. "Look, I'm going home now. Let's just forget any of this happened."

"And if I don't want to?"

He looked up into Grimmjow's challenging eyes and snorted. "Well that's your choice. I fully intend to forget this shit. See you around." He walked around Grimmjow, giving him a wide birth so the man couldn't stop him.

As Ichigo walked away, he didn't see the look of disappointment flicker on Grimmjow's face, which quickly disappeared. "Well that went fucking well."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Ichigo looked down at his phone as it buzzed, rolling his eyes before stopping the call. With a sigh he looked up and pocketed it again, noting his friends confused faces.

"Grimmjow."

Rukia frowned and lent forward. "Why does he keep calling you?"

Ichigo shrugged, absentmindedly twirling the straw in his drink. "Dunno, but whatever the reason, it can't be good and I'd rather not get involved."

Renji snorted and stood up, stretching with a loud groan. "Well whatever the reason, can you go talk to him? He's getting annoying."

"Why? What's he been doing?"

"Nothing. He just seems to have gotten you riled up. What happened between you two?"

Ichigo jerked slightly and felt his cheeks warm as his thoughts unintentionally strayed back to the events of two weeks ago. "Nothing happened, I'm just tired of fighting all the time."

"Maybe you should go meet him at the dojo one last time, explain things to him." Rukia stood as well, smoothing out her shirt. "Can't hurt can it?"

"I suppose not. How did you know about us meeting at the dojo?"

She snorted and grinned mischievously. "Do you really think we didn't know about that? You've been going for months now, so of course we knew."

Ichigo sighed and scratched his head, rising to his feet slowly before pulling out his phone to stare at it. "Maybe..." Renji grinned and took the opportunity to grab the phone from the unsuspecting teen. "Hey!"

"You're taking too long to get this over with." Ichigo stared at him in disbelief as he quickly typed something. "There, done."

"What did you do?" Ichigo took his phone back, glaring at the red head who laughed.

"I sorted it for you. You're going to the dojo tonight to meet him."

"You did what?!"

Rukia just rolled her eyes and punched his arm. "Don't get pissed, you obviously need to talk to him about something."

Rubbing the sure to be bruised spot, Ichigo sighed in defeat. "Yeah, I know. Doesn't mean I want to." Before they could question what Ichigo meant he turned and started walking away. "See you tomorrow!" He called, turning the corner with a wave of his hand.

Rukia sighed and glanced at Renji. "What do you suppose is going on with them two?"

Renji shrugged as they stared walking, contemplating his answer for a few moments. "Beats me, something’s happened though. I never thought I'd hear the day Ichigo would say he was tired of fighting Grimmjow."

"I think something strange is going on between them."

"Well whatever it is, I don't have a clue what it's about."

"Shall we find out then?"

...

Later that evening, Ichigo could be found inside the dojo, pacing nervously and continuously glancing at his watch every few moments. "C'mon... I didn't even want to be here in the first place..."

He jumped when the door opened, whirling around quickly to find Grimmjow casually leaning against the doorframe with his trademark smirk in place. "What's up?"

Ichigo scoffed and folded his arms, eyeing him sceptically. "You wanted to talk to me, so talk."

Grimmjow pushed away from the wall and walked over to Ichigo, who was proud of himself for standing his ground and not backing away. His eyes narrowed as he looked up into Grimmjow's and for the millionth time, he wished he was taller.

Grimmjow shook his head and chuckled softly. "I didn't expect you to actually meet me. After all, you've been ignoring me for two weeks now."

"Yeah well, it wasn't exactly my idea. Renji was the one who arranged this."

"Remind me to thank him then."

Ichigo started backing away as his grin turned predatory. "Don't..."

"Don't what? I haven't done anything."

"You know what." Ichigo stopped and scowled, thumping him on the chest roughly. "Whatever you want to say, go ahead and say it already so we can get on with this."

Grimmjow reached out to grasp his chin and Ichigo was surprised at how gently the usually brash man was being. "Remember what you said at the park?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't believe you."

Ichigo sighed heavily and batted his hand away. "I don't care if you do or don't. It's not happening, ever."

“C’mon Ichigo, I know you want it too.”

“Bullsh-" Ichigo never got to finish his sentence as Grimmjow cupped his face and pulled him into a kiss. Initially he stiffened, attempting to push Grimmjow away but soon his feeble attempts stopped as he grasped his shirt tightly, pulling him closer. His eyes flickered open when Grimmjow pulled away and he looked up at him with a frown. “Why’d you stop?”

Grimmjow grinned and cleared his throat. “You want me to continue?”

Ichigo looked down and blushed. “I… uh…”

“Say it Ichigo, and I’ll give you what you want.”

Ichigo blushed harder and took a deep breath before looking up to meet Grimmjow’s eyes, feeling like a complete idiot and hoping beyond all belief that he wasn’t playing a game with him. “I want you.” For a moment, Grimmjow didn’t move and Ichigo felt like he’d just done the most incredibly stupid thing in his life. “Forget I said that!”

Grimmjow just chuckled. “Why? Are you embarrassed?”

Ichigo groaned and covered his face. “I can’t believe I just said that…”

“Ichigo?”

He ignored Grimmjow and started pacing. “What the hell is wrong with me?”

“Hey.” Grasping Ichigo’s arm, he snapped the teen out of his mindless worrying. “What are you doing? I said I’d give you what you want and if that’s me, then you’re in luck.”

Ichigo gaped at him in shock and confusion. “W-what?”

“C’mon Ichigo, I know what you want, hell you just said it. So why are you fighting it? If we both want this, why aren’t we doing this already?”

Ichigo hesitated and glanced away, biting his lip. _What I am I thinking? Can I seriously consider doing this, with Grimmjow of all people? He does have a fair point though… if we both want to, why aren’t we?_

“Ichigo?”

He was jerked back to reality with the call of his name and he glanced at Grimmjow again shyly. “Yeah?”

“What are you thinking about?” Grimmjow cocked his head to the side and observed Ichigo curiously and he felt his cheeks warm again.

“I was thinking about what you said.”

“Mmm?”

He grasped Grimmjow’s shirt tightly and pulled so their heads were level. “Let’s do this then. After all what you said was true. We both want to so why aren’t we?”

Grimmjow smirked and cupped his face again, pulling him into a kiss which he readily accepted. Ichigo felt his back thud against the wall and groaned as Grimmjow pulled his shirt up and quickly shed himself of the garment. He pulled back to smile nervously at Grimmjow who chuckled.

“Never done this before huh?”

Ichigo scowled and punched his chest roughly. “Shut up. Does it matter if I have or not?”

“No I suppose not, but I guess I have to make it good for you right?”

“I would expect you to either way.”

Grimmjow pulled him closer again with his smirk forming. “Well then, do you want to get started already?”

Ichigo blushed but nodded anyway, running his hands under Grimmjow’s shirt shyly. “Let’s do this then.”

…

Ichigo’s eyes flickered open when he felt Grimmjow move next him and he turned over to see him stand up and stretch. His gaze travelled over the finely toned body before he lifted his gaze to meet Grimmjow’s when he turned around. Ichigo smiled and rolled over so he was fully facing Grimmjow.

“Hey.”

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and bent down to pick up his clothes and began changing. “How you feeling?”

Ichigo hummed and sat up, wincing at the jolt of pain in his lower back. “I’m ok I guess.” He reached out to grab his clothes and slowly changed back into them, standing up with a groan. “Goddamit this hurts. Is this your new way of beating me up?”

Grimmjow chuckled and threw Ichigo his phone. “Maybe, it’s a better way isn’t it? Fucking you into submission?”

Ichigo gave him a challenging look. “Just because I bottomed, doesn’t mean I’m going to ‘submit’ to you as you so crudely put it. I’m not some woman who will fall head over heels in love with you after one night together.”

Grimmjow just smirked in response and followed Ichigo out of the dojo so he could lock up. “So next time we meet up, are we gunna fight or fuck?”

Ichigo rolled his eyes and pocketed the keys before turning to meet Grimmjow’s mock questioning gaze. “I dunno, depends how pissed off with you I’ll be.”

“Now, you sound like a woman.”

He snorted and shook his head. “Definitely fighting at this rate. You are one of the most annoying people I’ve ever met, you know that right?”

“I never said you were a ray of sunshine either did I?”

Ichigo felt his eye twitch but chose to ignore the snide remark. “What the hell was I thinking? Having sex with you? What a ridiculous idea, any sane person would laugh at the thought.”

“Well they don’t know what’s really happened do they? And it would be best if no-one found out.”

“At least we agree on something.” Ichigo sighed and stepped onto the path, glancing at Grimmjow one last time. “See you around blue.”

“Whatever Kurosaki.”

Grimmjow left with a wave of his hand and Ichigo felt a wave of irritation hit him and he growled. Could he be so easily left with just a wave of the hand? After all, Grimmjow did just take away his innocence in a matter of sense, not that he was all that innocent anyway. But the point remained, was Grimmjow really that indifferent to him?

Shaking his head, Ichigo snorted to himself, he really did sound like a teenage girl worrying about her boyfriend. With a sigh he shoved his hands deep into his pockets and set off down the path, attempting to think of an excuse he could give his father when he got in about his late arrival. He jumped when his phone buzzed and he pulled it out to see he had a text. Upon opening the message, he was surprised to see it was from Grimmjow.

_Hey Kurosaki thanks for meeting up with me tonight. Didn’t expect you to finally agree to talk or get anywhere with me. Wanna meet up again soon?_

Ichigo rolled his eyes, trust Grimmjow of all people to be blunt and get right to it. Although he did find it strange that he’d text him so soon, let alone said thanks, even if it was conceited. He quickly typed his reply.

_Whatever Jaeggerjaques, I’m not particularly bothered when. Just don’t think this is going to be a common occurrence. I don’t want to explain to anyone if they start suspecting shit's going on between us._

He only had to wait a few moments for a reply.

_Don’t worry about it, I’m careful. Like I’d want anyone to find out either. I’ll talk to you soon about meeting up again._

Ichigo didn’t expect a reply, and wasn’t surprised when he didn’t receive one. He sighed as he reached the clinic and stepped off the path to the door. Opening it slowly, he stepped inside cautiously and looked around, frowning when he wasn't attacked.

“Hello?”

“Ichigo my darling son! Where have you been, I’ve been so worried about you!” Isshin came flying around the corner and Ichigo stepped out of the way so he slammed into the wall.

“I’ve been out at the dojo, just training that’s all. No need to get so worked up jeeze.” Isshin muffled a reply he didn’t hear nor care to try and understand. “I’m going to bed so don’t disturb me.” Hearing another muffled reply, Ichigo headed upstairs and ruffled Yuzu’s hair as he passed her on the stairs. “Hey kiddo.”

“Ichi-nii!” She squealed and gave him a glare.

“See you tomorrow Yuzu.”

He slipped into his room as she went off with a huff and lay down on his bed with a groan. His mind strayed back to the memories of a few hours before and he rubbed his head with another groan.

“What the hell were you thinking Ichigo?”


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

_*Few Months Later*_

Ichigo jumped and fell out of his seat when his phone vibrated, not realising he'd fallen asleep on it. With a grumble he stood up and grabbed the offending object, seeing that he had a text and opened it with a frown, wondering who would be texting him at ten at night.

_Hey Kurosaki I'm bored, wanna meet up?_

Ichigo snorted, of course it was Grimmjow, and who else did he expect it to be? With a sigh he quickly typed a reply before throwing his phone on the bed to hunt for his shoes.

_Sure, I've got nothing better to do. Where and when?_

He tried not to act like a girl, but he couldn't help but grab the phone quickly when it buzzed, almost tripping over his own feet in the process.

_Meet me outside the dojo in a half hour._

_See you then._

Ichigo smiled to himself and pocketed the phone before finishing putting his shoes on. He left his room quietly, attempting to sneak down the corridor but failed when he tripped over someone in the dark and crashed into the floor. The light was turned on and he lay in a daze for several minutes before sitting up, finding out what he had tripped on.

"What the hell dad?!" Ichigo glared at his father who was currently lying on the floor, sporting a large red mark on his face. "What are you doing? Lying in the middle of the floor like that! You could've killed me!"

Isshin jumped up with a big grin, ignoring Ichigo's question. "Where are you sneaking off to at this time of night Ichigo? Are you running away? Am I not giving you enough love?!"

Ichigo sighed and rolled his eyes. "I'm not running away, I'm going to meet... a friend." Isshin’s eyes lit up with excitement and Ichigo groaned, obviously his hesitation hadn't gone unnoticed like he'd hoped.

“My darling son has finally found love!”

“No I haven’t!” Ichigo groaned when Isshin pulled him into a crushing hug. “Goddamn idiot, let me go!”

“What’s going on out here?” Karin came out of her room, glaring at them both for all the noise. “Some of us like the quiet you know.”

“Sorry Karin, your dad’s just proud of Ichigo here. He’s finally in love!”

Her eyebrows raised in surprise. “Really? Who’s the lucky guy?”

Ichigo finally managed to push Isshin off and he fixed his clothing with a huff. “There is no ‘lucky guy’ Karin, I’m going to meet a friend, that’s all. I’m definitely not in love.”

Ichigo left before they could ask any more questions, he definitely didn’t want to explain to his family about Grimmjow, or about what they had been doing for the past few months. Walking down the street, he shivered and pulled his jacket closer as the wind picked up, wishing he had brought a coat.

When he finally got to the dojo, the small shivers had turned into uncontrollable shaking. "Fucking idiot, why did he have to pick a cold night?" Rubbing his hands together to stop the numbness spreading, he fumbled with his keys, cursing loudly when they slipped through his fingers.

He bent down to pick them up, jumping and slipping when someone grabbed them first. Luckily for him, the person caught him as well, saving him from a fall and a few bruises. Looking up, Ichigo found it was Grimmjow, smirking down at him.

"Alright Kurosaki? You seem a bit jumpy tonight."

Ichigo blushed, not altogether annoyed with the arms currently encircling his waist, but he scowled anyway. "I wouldn't be jumpy if you weren't sneaking up on me. Make or noise or something next time." Pushing out of his arms, Ichigo grabbed the keys and went to unlock the door.

"Wait."

He sighed heavily when Grimmjow caught his hand and turned to look at him. "What?"

"Let's go back to mine. I'm betting the heating’s not on in there and I don't fancy freezing to death."

Ichigo scoffed but put his keys back in his pocket anyway before raising an eyebrow sceptically. "And what would your parents think of you bringing me back?"

Grimmjow just shrugged and looked away for a moment, seemingly lost in his own thoughts before he replied quietly. "I don't live with them. They live in Germany and rent a flat for me here. So it's completely fine, no-one will know."

“Oh.” Ichigo said dumfoundedly, not expecting such a piece of personal information.

Grimmjow just rolled his eyes and walked back onto the path, glancing back at the still confused Ichigo. “You coming or not? It’s freezing out here so hurry your ass up.”

Ichigo snapped out of his thoughts and hurried to Grimmjow’s side, glancing up at him shyly. “You sure this is ok?”

“I wouldn’t offer if it wasn’t, would I?”

Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh lightly and the look on Grimmjow’s face. “No, I suppose not.” He shook his head when Grimmjow gave him a confused look and followed him to a block of apartments further into Karakura. “You live here?” He asked, generally surprised considering the price of some of the flats around there.

“Yeah, why?”

“What do your parents do? These places are expensive.” Grimmjow just shrugged and started walking again, Ichigo hurrying after him. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”

Grimmjow glanced back at him to see Ichigo had his head bowed slightly and sighed, reaching out to lift his head. “Hey.”

Ichigo looked up at him with hesitant eyes. “Yeah?”

“You’re not prying; I’m just not used to telling anyone about my personal life.”

Ichigo frowned in confusion. “What about your friends?”

Grimmjow snorted and let go of Ichigo’s head, turning to continue walking. “If you can call them that.”

Ichigo frowned but followed him, asking no more questions of him. They entered one of the buildings and Ichigo was surprised at the friendly, yet expensive decor inside. “Wow.”

“What?” Grimmjow turned to look at him, chuckling when he saw the impressed look on his face. “You ok?”

“Yeah, yeah of course.” Ichigo smiled and rubbed the back of his neck. “I’ve never seen a place like this, that’s all.”

“C’mon, if you think this is something, you should see my apartment.”

Ichigo gulped and followed Grimmjow to the elevator, stepping in the small space next to him. “So, uh… Which floor?”

“Top.”

Ichigo’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You live on the top floor?”

“Yup.”

Ichigo just shook his head and lent back against the elevator wall. “You’re just full of surprises aren’t you?” Grimmjow glanced at his relaxed form and grinned, moving to lean over him slightly. Ichigo’s eyes flickered open and they widened in shock when he saw how close Grimmjow was. “Wha-?”

His sentence was cut off when Grimmjow cupped his face and bent down to kiss him. By now he was used to the spontaneous treatment and he quickly lifted his hands to grasp the front of Grimmjow’s shirt, moaning when his mouth was forcibly opened. Ichigo jumped when the elevator doors opened, blushing furiously when an older couple entered.

Grimmjow grinned and bent down so he could whisper in his ear without them hearing before stepping back from him. “We’ll continue this when we get off.”

Ichigo felt a shiver work its way down his spine and by the look on Grimmjow’s face, he noticed too, which definitely didn’t help his blush. Biting his lip, Ichigo carefully averted his gaze from the couple, who he was sure were looking at him with scrutinising eyes.

When they reached the top floor, he all but ran out of the elevator, with Grimmjow following behind with a chuckle. He glanced back as the elevator doors closed, hearing the word “Teenagers…” being mentioned. With a roll of his eyes, Grimmjow followed Ichigo and caught his arm.

“You ok?” Ichigo turned around, his blush still spread across his cheeks, almost reaching his ears and for some odd reason, Grimmjow found the sight endearing.

“I’m fine.” Ichigo smiled and ran a hand through his hair, making it stand up on end. “I can’t believe they just walked in on us making out like that.”

“Who cares what they think? They don’t even know us.”

Ichigo just hummed in affirmative, letting his gaze wander around the short corridor to rest on the only door there, apart from the elevator. “Can I ask something?”

“What?”

He looked back at Grimmjow, a small smile twitching at his lips. “Do you live in a penthouse suite?”

Grimmjow just grinned and held out his hand. “Want to find out?”

Ichigo looked down at the outstretched hand and smiled, taking it in his own. “Sure.”

He let Grimmjow pull him back to the door and he let go of his hand so he could get his keys and unlock the door. Ichigo hesitated when Grimmjow opened the door and went in, Grimmjow noticing when he didn’t follow and he glanced back to see Ichigo still stood at the door.

“Are you coming in?”

Ichigo slowly walked in, closing the door behind him with a sigh. He looked around, his eyes widening in surprise when he looked out the windows. “Wow.”

Grimmjow glanced behind him and looked out the window before shrugging and walking through the house. “You want a drink?”

“No, I’m fine.” Ichigo shook his head and followed Grimmjow into the kitchen, gently grabbing his wrist. “Grimmjow?”

He paused when Ichigo said his name; the only time he’d ever heard him say it was when he was screaming it in pleasure. “Yeah?”

Ichigo grinned and trailed his fingers up Grimmjow’s arm to play with the strands of his hair at the base of his neck. “How about we forget about the drinks and move this into the bedroom?”

Grimmjow looked at him with a frown for a moment before smirking and wrapping an arm around his waist. “I like you’re thinking, c’mon.” He grabbed Ichigo’s arm and pulled him gently into his bedroom.

…

Ichigo sighed softly when Grimmjow’s arm draped over his waist and his shoulder was kissed. “What’re you doing?”

“What does it look like?”

He rolled over to face Grimmjow, touching his cheek with a frown. “It looks like you’re being affectionate.”

“When am I not?”

Ichigo snorted and broke out of his hold, standing up to stretch. “Right, you’re always the perfect gentleman.”

Grimmjow just laughed and grabbed his arm, pulling him back on the bed. “Where are you going?”

“Home.” Ichigo tried to pull him off, but only succeeded in making Grimmjow’s arms tighten around him. “My dad will be going nuts by now. I’ve been gone longer than I really should have.”

“Then stay.”

Ichigo froze at the words, his hands still over Grimmjow’s. “W-what?”

Grimmjow sat up and rested his head on Ichigo’s shoulder with a sigh. “You might as well stay; it’s gone one in the morning. Just call home and tell your father you’re staying at a friend’s.”

Ichigo hesitated, glancing at his phone sat innocently on the side. _Stay? Stay with Grimmjow? We’ve never spent the night together before. We usually just have sex then go home. Do I want to stay? What happens if I do?_

He blinked and came back to reality when Grimmjow let go of him and lay down again. “Or you can just go. I’m not bothered either way.”

Ichigo glanced down at him to see he’d covered his face with one of his arms, but he was pretty sure it would be a disappointment to him if he left. With a sigh he quickly grabbed his phone and rang home before he could regret his decision.

“Hello?”

“Hey dad.” He flinched and held his phone away when Isshin started shouting exuberantly. Grimmjow sat up with a groan and glanced at the phone.

“Who’s that?”

Ichigo looked at him with a wry smile. “My father.” Grimmjow just shook his head and lay down again. Ichigo waited until the shouting had died down and gently held the phone back against his ear. “Dad?”

“Yes son?”

“I’m uh, staying at a friend’s house for the night. Don’t worry about school; I’ll come back early to grab my bag so I can get to school on time.”

“Which friend are you staying at?”

“Umm… One you don’t know.”

Isshin must’ve noticed the slight hesitance in his voice because the next thing he heard was an overexcited squeal. “My darling son!” Ichigo jumped and accidently dropped the phone and Isshin’s voice rang through, loud enough for both him and Grimmjow to hear. “Are you staying with your secret boyfriend?! I knew you were in love, you can’t lie to me Ichigo!”

Ichigo snatched up the phone and yelled down it. “I’m not staying with my boyfriend! I don’t even have a boyfriend! I’ll come home earlier tomorrow see you then!” Ending the call, he put the phone back on the side before turning to look at Grimmjow sheepishly, who was looking at him with an amused expression. “Sorry about that, my father thinks I’ve got a boyfriend and he won’t let it go.”

“Uh-huh.”

Ichigo groaned and rubbed his face, pressing his head into Grimmjow’s chest. “Don’t say it. My father’s an idiot ok?”

“So you’ve been telling your family you’re dating someone?”

Ichigo looked up with a scowl. “No! That idiot just assumed I was because I’ve been sneaking out to meet up with you!”

“Ok, ok. No need to get stressy.”

Ichigo sighed heavily. “Just shut up and let me sleep then.”

“So you’ll stay?”

Ichigo sighed again and curled up against Grimmjow’s side, smiling into his chest when Grimmjow lay down and wrapped an arm around his waist. “Grimmjow?”

The man chuckled. “You know that’s twice you’ve called me by my name today.”

Ichigo blushed but propped himself up on his elbows to look at Grimmjow. “Actually, it’s three.”

“Ok fine three, but I don’t count the one when you practically screamed it.”

Ichigo just ducked his head for a moment, but Grimmjow knew he was hiding his now furious blush. “Shut up.”

Grimmjow just laughed. “So what were you going to ask me?”

He looked up again with a questioning gaze. “Why did you ask me to stay?”

Grimmjow frowned and contemplated the answer for a few minutes. “What does it matter? Just go to sleep already.” He reached over Ichigo and turned off the light before lying down again. Ichigo just sat frowning into the darkness for a moment before he was pulled down. “Just go to sleep yeah?”

Ichigo smiled softly and pressed his head to Grimmjow’s chest. “Yeah.”


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Ichigo was rudely awoken the next morning as something outside the bedroom crashed against the wall. Jumping up, he accidently fell out of the bed, landing on the floor with a loud bang. Silence fell outside the room and a few moments later Grimmjow threw the door open, making him blush and quickly pull the bed covers down on top of him.

“Uh… hi.”

Grimmjow smirked and lent against the door, noting Ichigo’s current state. “What happened to you?”

“Nothing. What were you throwing?”

Grimmjow snorted and rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t me.”

“Who was it then? I thought you lived alone?”

He hesitated and glanced back, presumably at whoever was there. “Doesn’t matter.” He waved his hand dismissively at them and walked into the bedroom, shutting the door. “I was gunna come wake you up anyway. You told your father you’d be home early so you can get ready for school.”

“Yeah I know.” Ichigo sighed and scratched his head. “Thanks for waking me I guess.”

“Whatever. Just hurry up and get dressed, you need to leave, quickly.”

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. “Why? Don’t want your ‘friend’ to see me?”

Grimmjow glanced behind himself at the door. “Yeah, something like that.”

With that, he left the room again. Ichigo just sighed and shook his head, dismissing the odd behaviour before standing up to grab his clothes and change into them. He grabbed the bed sheets and threw them back on the bed, smoothing them over. Glancing at the door, he cautiously approached it and opened it slowly, peeking out.

Looking around, Ichigo didn’t see anyone and he sighed in relief before leaving the room, jumping when a high pitched squeal pierced his ears. Before he could react, someone had grabbed him and was dragging him over to the sofa and he was pushed down. He looked up with wide eyes to see a young woman with grey eyes and green curls grinning at him.

“Uhh… Hi?”

She squealed again and Ichigo flinched, almost jumping out of his seat. “Oh my god! Grimmjow finally told you huh? I told him you would be fine with it!”

Ichigo frowned in confusion. “Told me what?”

She grinned wider. “C’mon, you know what I mean. He told you he-“

“Nelliel!”

She stopped and looked behind Ichigo with a pout, presumably aimed at Grimmjow. “What?”

Ichigo glanced behind his shoulder to see Grimmjow glaring at the woman. “Stop talking, now.”

“Aww…”

“Nel!”

She raised her hands in defeat. “Ok, ok.”

Grimmjow sighed in relief and glanced at Ichigo before jerked his head at the kitchen. “C’mon.” Ichigo stood up slowly and looked at the woman he now knew as Nelliel before scooting around her and going into the kitchen. Grimmjow waited until he was out of earshot before walking up to Nel. “What the hell were you going to tell him?”

Nel scoffed and folded her arms, eyeing him sceptically. “You haven’t told him have you?”

“No and I don’t intent to so keep your mouth shut.”

He left before she could respond, going into the kitchen to find Ichigo leaning against the counter. “So who is she?” He asked, jerking his head back at the main room.

“What does it matter?”

Ichigo scowled and pushed away from the counter to stand in front of Grimmjow. “Are you sleeping with her too?”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you sleeping with her?” He repeated, his voice wavering slightly. “Because if you are…” He stopped and turned away, running a hand through his hair. “…I’m done with you.”

Grimmjow snorted and folded his arms. “Does it matter if I am?”

Ichigo’s eyes narrowed and he growled quietly. “I’m not being one of your toys Grimmjow. If you want to keep this going, I won’t share you and I refuse to be used like that.”

Grimmjow chuckled and grasped Ichigo’s arm, forcing him to turn back and face him again. “She’s my sister. Also, I'm not sleeping with anyone but you, you're enough.” Ichigo sighed in relief and grinned before grasping the back of Grimmjow’s head and pulling him down into a kiss. “What was that for?”

Ichigo just shrugged and let him go, sliding back down to stand properly. “No reason.” After a moment, he cleared his throat. “I should get going then, my dad will start freaking out and calling me soon.”

“Yeah, sure.” Grimmjow followed Ichigo to the front door and opened it for him. He watched Ichigo head down the corridor with a frown and sighed, heading after him. “Hey.”

Ichigo stopped and looked back at him. “Yeah?”

“Come round later, after school.”

Ichigo frowned for a moment before shrugging. “Sure, see you then.”

He left and Grimmjow watched him go into the elevator before sighing again and going back to his flat, scowling at Nel who was smirking at him. “What?”

She just giggled lightly and playfully slapped his shoulder before leaving, calling over her shoulder. “You got it bad Grimmy, just tell him already.”

“Whatever Nel, I aint got nothing to tell him.”

“Sure you don’t.” She paused and looked back at him. “Just tell him already Grimmjow, there’s no point in pretending is there? Might as well get it over with. Besides, you never know, he might feel the same.”

Grimmjow just snorted and went back into the flat and shut the door as Nel grinned and got in the elevator.

…

When Ichigo got home, Yuzu was already up and cooking breakfast so he went into the kitchen and grabbed a piece of toast off the table. “Morning.”

Karin looked up at him with a small frown. “Where’ve you been Ichigo?”

Something about the knowing look in her eyes made him feel uneasy. “Just stayed the night at a friend’s.”

“Which one?”

“One you don’t know.”

She just shook her head and returned to her food, knowing Ichigo wouldn’t tell them any more on the situation.

“Ichigo my darling son, you have returned!”

Ichigo stifled his sigh and turned to look at his father, folding his arms. “Yeah, like I said I would be, didn’t I?”

Isshin grinned and sat down next to Yuzu, motioning at the seat across from him for Ichigo to take and he didn’t speak until he had sat. “You and this boyfriend of yours must be getting serious then if you are spending the night at his.”

Ichigo scowled, a light blush dusting his cheeks. “He’s not my boyfriend, he’s just a friend.”

Isshin just nodded and started eating, Ichigo’s reaction not a loss to him. “Of course son.”

Ichigo’s scowl deepened at Isshin’s smile and he scoffed, standing up. “I’m going to shower.” Once he’d finished and changed into clean clothes for the day, Ichigo grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Going downstairs, he opened the front door and called back into the house to his father. “I’m going to school now, see you later!”

Closing the door as Isshin shouted a reply he didn’t hear, Ichigo sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck as he headed down the path, not noticing he was being followed. “Hey Ichigo!”

He jumped slightly and turned to see it was Renji and Rukia and he stopped, waiting for them to catch up with him. “Yeah?”

Renji was the one who spoke first, slapping Ichigo around the shoulders with a smirk. “So Ichigo, what you been up to recently?”

He frowned in confusion as they started walking again. “What do you mean? I’ve been doing the same things I’ve always been doing, nothing’s changed.”

Rukia snorted in disbelief. “Don’t bullshit us Ichigo; we know you’ve been seeing someone.”

Ichigo paused for a moment, before he shook it off. “No-one.” Rukia scowled and quickly slapped his ass, grinned when he yelped and covered it before turning to glare at her. “What the hell was that for?!”

“Your ass wouldn’t be sensitive if you weren’t having sex would it?”

Renji sighed and folded his arm, muttering to himself. “I was trying to put it gently…”

“Shh Renji. So who is he Ichigo?”

Ichigo sighed and looked at them both, who were looking at him expectantly. “There is no-one, now stop asking. Why does everyone think I have a damn boyfriend at the minute? Because I sure as hell don’t.”

“But…”

Ichigo sighed heavily and rubbed the back of his neck, thinking of how much he should say. “I’m… sleeping with someone… but we’re not together.”

Renji frowned in confusion. “So you’re sex buddies?”

Ichigo snorted and smiled wryly. “Yeah… I suppose we are.”

Rukia eyed him suspicious, but didn’t further the subject and they didn’t talk until they got to school. In the classroom, Renji lent closer to Ichigo as they sat down and he looked at his friend with a frown.

“Yes?”

Renji lent closer and Ichigo leaned towards him, wondering what he wanted. “Is the sex good?”

Ichigo scoffed and hit him around the head with his book. “Like hell I’m answering such a stupid question.”

…

After school, Rukia and Renji stood outside the building, watching as Ichigo hurried out and down the path, too busy absorbed in his own thoughts to notice them both start following him. They followed him for about half an hour, to a block of expensive flats and waited a few moments to see him go into the most expensive looking one.

Renji whistled and looked around as they went in a few moments later. “Jeeze this place is expensive, why would Ichigo come here?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Rukia glanced at the elevator, noting it had stopped at the top floor. She glanced back at Renji who was looking at her with a confused frown. “Ichigo’s gone to see whoever he’s been sleeping with.”

She pressed the button and they waited a few moments for it to come back down and they went in and she pressed the button for the top floor. “How do you know which floor?”

“Just because you’re unobservant Renji, doesn’t mean I am too.” When the elevator stopped, they both stepped out and froze at the sight they saw.

In front of them, currently aware of their presence, Ichigo had his arms wrapped around another man’s neck as they kissed. Said man, to their surprise and complete confusion, was Grimmjow. When they broke apart, Rukia grabbed Renji’s arm and pulled him around the corner so they wouldn’t be noticed.

“So you came then?” Grimmjow asked Ichigo with a smirk.

Ichigo smiled and pulled him down into another kiss. “Of course, I said I would, didn’t I?”

“Wanna come in then?”

“Sure.”

Renji and Rukia watched as Grimmjow pulled Ichigo into the flat. Once the door closed, they both stood in silence for a few minutes, too shocked to speak. Walking up to the door, Rukia glanced at Renji who was looking at the door with a frown. “What do you think?”

“I think this is bat-shit crazy. Ichigo and Jaeggerjaques? What the actual hell?!”

“I don’t know Renji; it makes no sense to me either.” Rukia jerked her thumb at the door. “Think we should knock and find out just what the hell is going on then?”

“I think we should knock and get this over with.”

Rukia nodded and sighed heavily before stepping forward to knock on the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Ichigo, who was currently in the middle of having his shirt pulled off, jumped when someone knocked on the door and looked up at Grimmjow in worry. “Did you invite someone over?”

Grimmjow frowned and glanced behind himself at the bedroom door. “No, no-one should be here.” Looking back at Ichigo, he shrugged and grinned, leaning down to kiss him. “Just ignore them, they’ll get the message and go away.”

Ichigo grinned and locked his fingers in Grimmjow’s hair, pulling the man down on top of him. “Sounds good to me.” Grimmjow growled in annoyance when they knocked again, frustrated beyond belief as he was currently in the middle of undoing Ichigo's trousers. Ichigo chuckled at the look on his face and sat up. “Just go answer the door; I’ll still be here when you get back.”

“Yeah, you better be,” Standing up with a sigh, Grimmjow left the room and strode to the front door and opened it. He stared in confusion at the person on the other side. “What are you doing here Kuchiki?”

She looked up at him through narrowed eyes, folding her arms as she squared up next to him. “Where’s Ichigo?”

Grimmjow lent against the doorframe and eyed her sceptically, noting Renji further down the corridor, watching him apprehensively. “You followed him didn’t you?”

“Does it matter if we did or not? Now where is he?”

“He’s in my bedroom, currently in the process of being undressed. Wanna see him?”

Whatever Rukia was expecting, it wasn’t that and for a moment she stood there in a stupor before she pushed past Grimmjow to march into the bedroom. Ichigo jumped when the bedroom door slammed open and his mouth opened in shock when Rukia marched in and glared at him.

“Care to explain this Ichigo?”

Ichigo quickly grabbed his shirt and pulled it on, redoing his trousers before standing up. Clearing his throat, Ichigo ran a hand through his hair. “I, uh…”

“You’ve been seeing Grimmjow?” Rukia asked exasperatedly, stepping forward to stand just in front of him. “What are you thinking Ichigo; this is the same guy that you’ve hated for over ten years now. What the hell changed?”

“Nothing’s changed Rukia, well maybe a bit but still, things haven’t changed that much.”

“Changed? You’re sleeping with him Ichigo!”

Before Ichigo could respond, she went back into the main room and he followed, seeing Renji stood awkwardly with Grimmjow. “You.” She pointed at Grimmjow and went to stand in front of him. “Why Ichigo? Do you really expect us to believe you’ve just magically fallen in love with him?”

Grimmjow snorted and rolled his eyes. “I’m not in love with him Kuchiki. It’s just sex, that’s it.”

Ichigo, who was about to defend their relationship, or lack of, stopped and looked at Grimmjow in confusion. He sighed heavily and rubbed his head. “Rukia…” She paused mid-rant and glanced at him, noting the hurt in his voice. “Just leave, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Hearing the now quiet desperation in his voice, she nodded and grabbed Renji’s arm and they left.

Ichigo waited until they had gone to turn and glare at Grimmjow, who looked back with a confused frown. “What?”

“What did you mean by ‘it’s just sex’?”

Grimmjow shrugged and pushed away from the wall to stand in front of him and grasp his shoulders gently. “What do you think I mean? That’s all there is between us isn’t there? When has it ever been anything else?”

Ichigo scowled and pushed him away. “I don’t appreciate you telling people that. You make it sound like you’re using me and I don’t want people thinking that. I don’t want to be used and then for you to throw me away when you’re done and get bored.”

He made a move to go around Grimmjow and leave, but was stopped when Grimmjow grabbed his arm. “Why are you leaving? Wasn’t it clear from the beginning that this was only ever going to be sex?”

“It wasn’t clear to me.”

“So what did you expect to happen? You expected us to fall in love and end up together? Have the perfect happy ending, because that’s bullshit Ichigo and you know it.”

“No that’s not what I expect! But I do expect a level of respect from you!”

“Respect? Nothing about this has anything to do with respect Kurosaki!” He turned away and ran a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh before turning back to Ichigo. If he really wanted to do this now, then he wouldn’t show any weakness in front of him. “You will never become someone I need, I can easily replace you and that’s it, nothing else.”

Ichigo stepped back like he’d been slapped and looked away for a moment before rubbing his face. Walking around Grimmjow, he yanked the door open. “I’m done with this, I’m done with you.”

He left without a backwards glance, but Grimmjow’s last words as he called after him still managed to leave what felt like a stab to his chest. “You’ll be back within a day Kurosaki!” Slamming the door shut, Grimmjow sighed and rubbed his head before slamming his palm into the wall with a yell. “What the hell have I done?”

...

Ichigo sighed heavily and banged his head none too gently against the elevator wall. "C'mon Ichigo, you knew this would happen eventually. Better now than when you've actually fallen in love with him." When the doors opened down at the lobby, he looked up and slowly left and at the entrance he could see it was raining heavily. Since Renji and Rukia had already gone, Ichigo knew he'd have to walk alone. "Great."

Stepping out in the rain, Ichigo drew his blazer closer and looked down with another sigh. He rubbed the spot on his chest where it ached, but he knew it wasn't physical, Grimmjow's last words still echoing in his head. Ichigo felt the warm tears leaves tracks down his face and rubbed one away before laughing shakily.

"Guess I already fell for him huh."

"Ichigo!"

He stiffened when he heard Grimmjow call his name and shook his head, continuing walking down the street. "It's not real Ichigo, you're imagining things."

"For god's sake Ichigo will you stop?!"

He whirled around, not caring if Grimmjow saw him crying, he just wanted to be left alone. "What?! What else could you possibly have to say to me?!"

Grimmjow stopped in front of him and sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Come back.”

“Come back?” Ichigo asked, almost laughing in disbelief. “Are you insane? You just told me I mean nothing to you!” Ichigo stepped forward and pointed a finger threateningly at him. “Why the hell would I want to come back with you? I want nothing to do with you.”

Grimmjow reached out to touch him but Ichigo slapped his hand away. Grimmjow sighed and tried again, grabbing Ichigo's arms and pulling him against his body. Ichigo struggled but he knew it was pointless since Grimmjow was stronger than him.

“Let me go!”

“Ichigo listen to me! I’m sorry!”

“Sorry?!” Ichigo managed to get back enough to glare up at him, only for it to falter and he looked down with a sigh. “Why are you sorry? You were only telling me how it is weren’t you? I guess it’s my own stupid fault for believed this could’ve been something else.” Ichigo looked up at him again and Grimmjow swore, when he saw those tear filled eyes, he never wanted to be the cause of it again. “Just let me go already.”

"No."

Ichigo tried to pull his hands free again, only to fail. Chewing on his lip, he made a quick decision as to how to get Grimmjow to let go and quickly leaned forward to kiss him. Just as he hoped, Grimmjow's grip on his wrists loosened but before he could pull away, Grimmjow let go of him to cup his face, deepening the kiss.

Ichigo's initial plan was completely forgotten and he reached up to grab Grimmjow's collar, pulling him down slightly. When they broke apart, Ichigo's eyes flickered open to see Grimmjow looking down at him with a soft smile and he shivered. Pulling Grimmjow down further, Ichigo wrapped his arms around his neck and sighed heavily, closing his eyes again.

"Tell me you love me." Grimmjow frowned and tried to pull away, only to have Ichigo's arms tightened around his neck. "Please." He murmured, his voice barely audible over the rain. "I know you won't mean it, I just need to hear you say it."

He sighed and pressed his head to Ichigo's wet hair and wrapped his arms around the man's lithe frame. "I love you." When he said it, he meant it with every fibre in his body and he hoped Ichigo knew that too.

Ichigo shivered and let go, slowly pulling away to look Grimmjow in the eyes. "I love you too." Leaning forward, he kissed Grimmjow quickly before completely breaking contact with him. "Thank you." Ichigo smiled softly and turned to leave, but Grimmjow pulled him back again.

"Stay Ichigo."

"Why?"

"Because it's raining and dark, do you really think it's the best time to be walking through town?"

Ichigo sighed and looked down to contemplate his options, although he already knew what he was going to do. "Ok."

Grimmjow held out his hand and Ichigo hesitated before slowly taking it in his own and letting Grimmjow lead him back to his flat. Following him in, Ichigo stood in the middle of the room and wrapped his arms around himself. Grimmjow glanced back at him and sighed before turning around to face him.

"You can stay in a spare room if you want."

"Yeah." Ichigo nodded and followed him down the corridor into another room he hadn't noticed before.

"There's a bathroom in there." Grimmjow pointed at the other door in the room and Ichigo nodded again, chewing his lip anxiously.

"M'kay."

Grimmjow watched Ichigo rub his arm, noting he was refusing to meet his gaze and sighed before moving to leave the room, kissing Ichigo's head as he went. "You know where I'll be if you need me."

"Thanks." Ichigo waited until he'd left the room before sighing heavily and sinking onto the bed to hold his head in his hands. "What am I doing?" He glanced at the bathroom and bit his lip.

_I really should shower, besides, my clothes are soaked and I'm freezing. Grimmjow did say I could use it if I wanted to._

He nodded to himself and stood up, peeling off the soaking wet clothes to hang them over the radiator to dry before shivering. Heading into the bathroom, Ichigo turned the shower on and stepped under the warm spray, sighing happily as his body warmed up again.

He rubbed the back of his neck and frowned, thinking back over everything that had happened in the space of a short few hours and snorted. "Why the hell did I ask him to tell me he loved me? What am I doing here when I should've just gone home?"

Ichigo shook his head and turned off the shower, grabbing a towel as he opened the door to go back into the bedroom. He looked up and froze in shock when he found Grimmjow there, currently in the middle of collecting his wet clothes and instantly covered himself whilst blushing furiously.

Grimmjow was the first to move and he stood up, clearing his throat and carefully averting his eyes from Ichigo's naked form. "I was uh, just gunna dry your clothes. I left clean ones on the bed."

"T-thanks." Grimmjow nodded and left quickly, leaving Ichigo to exhale shakily, not realising he'd been holding his breath. He glanced at the bed to see the spare clothes and changed into them before curling up in the bed. "I really need to sort this out tomorrow."

...

Grimmjow threw Ichigo's clothes into the dryer and turned it on before leaning against the counter with a heavy sigh. Closing his eyes, the image of Ichigo walking out the bathroom came to mind and he groaned, rubbing his forehead. He jumped when his phone rang and pulled it out to see it was Nelliel and groaned again before answering the call.

"What Nel?"

"Hey Grimmy! How's things going?"

"Oh just perfect."

"What's wrong?"

Grimmjow sighed and leant against the counter again, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's Ichigo."

Nel took a moment to reply, and he could hear the hesitation in her voice. "Did you tell him?"

"Yeah. But he thinks I only said it because he asked me to, not because I actually meant it."

"Where is he now?"

"In the spare room, probably asleep."

She sighed and Grimmjow could practically see her chewing her nails in worry and smiled. "You should tell him the truth Grimmy."

"Yeah I will."

"Soon."

"Ok Nel, I will."

"Good. I'm coming down tomorrow, see you then."

"Sure." He dropped the phone on the side and rubbed his head with a heavy sigh before glancing at the door to the spare room. Shaking his head, he snorted and went into his own room. "Now is definitely not the time."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Grimmjow woke up with a start when his alarm started beeping loudly and groaned, whacking the offending object to make it stop. He stood up and stretched before frowning, trying to remember what he’d forgotten. When his mind supplied no answer, he shrugged off the feeling and went into the kitchen to get a drink. Halfway through filling the glass, Grimmjow finally remembered that Ichigo was currently asleep in his spare room.

“Shit.”

Putting the glass on the side, he went to the door and paused for a moment, remembering what happened last time he went in without knocking. With a sigh, he knocked on the door and waited a minute, when receiving no reply he opened the door cautiously and went in.

Grimmjow sighed in relief when he found Ichigo was still asleep and slowly walked over to him, sighing again when he saw Ichigo's sleeping face, smoothed free of his usual scowl. Sitting down next to him, Grimmjow reached out and gently shook Ichigo's shoulder.

“Hey Ichigo, wake up.”

Ichigo frowned and shifted in his sleep, mumbling something about ‘peanut butter’ before sighing and falling silent again. Grimmjow frowned and bent down to brush his lips across Ichigo's ear. Ichigo sighed again and pushed against Grimmjow’s cheek with a smile. “Five more minutes.”

“Ichigo you need to wake up.”

His brown eyes flickered open and he looked up at Grimmjow in confusion for a moment before quickly pulling his hand away and sitting up. “I… um… morning?”

Grimmjow grinned as Ichigo started blushing and looked away from him. “Morning yourself. How’d you sleep?”

“Ok I guess. What time is it?”

Grimmjow glanced at his watch. “Just gone eight. You need to get up and ready to go in the next half hour or we’re gunna be late for school.”

“Yeah, of course.” Ichigo stood up and stretched, freezing when he glanced back at Grimmjow to see he was watching him. “What?”

Grimmjow just shook his head and stood up. “Nothing.” He went over to the door and opened it again for turning to speak to Ichigo. “I’m gunna get your clothes so come out when you want.”

“Sure.” Ichigo watched as Grimmjow left the room before sighing heavily and running a hand through his hair. “C’mon Ichigo, just go get your clothes and leave for school, it’s not that hard. You don’t have to be alone with him again after this.” He flinched at his own words and shook his head before leaving the room to find Grimmjow in the kitchen. “Hey.”

Grimmjow turned around with Ichigo's clothes in hand and grinned. “Hey.”

“Can I have my clothes?” Ichigo stepped forward to take them, frowning when Grimmjow didn’t hand them over. “What?”

“I’ll give them to you, on one condition.”

Ichigo scowled and folded his arms, eyeing Grimmjow sceptically. “And what’s that?”

“A kiss.” He stated the words simply, but Ichigo was sure he misheard.

“A what?” Ichigo asked dumfoundedly, his arms falling slack at his sides and Grimmjow’s grin morphed into a smirk as he stepped closer to the stunned teen.

“A kiss. C’mon Ichigo it aint like we haven’t kissed before. Hell, we’ve done a lot more than kissing.”

Ichigo gaped at him for a moment before clearing his throat and chuckling softly. “You always ask for the most difficult things.”

Grimmjow frowned as was going to ask what Ichigo meant but never got the chance as Ichigo stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him down into a kiss.  Ichigo only intended for it to be a simple kiss, but when Grimmjow’s arms wrapped around his waist to pull him closer and his tongue slipped into his mouth, he could help himself. Ichigo pressed his body closer to Grimmjow’s with a soft moan, grasping the back of Grimmjow’s hair tightly.

It was when Grimmjow’s hand slipped under his shirt to run down his back Ichigo came back to his senses and realised what was happening. Ichigo pulled away quickly and pushed out of Grimmjow’s arms.

“Can- Can I have my clothes now?” Grimmjow held out the clothes wordlessly and Ichigo quickly grabbed them and turned around, going back to Grimmjow’s spare room. Dropping the clothes on the bed, he lent against the desk with a heavy sigh. “What the hell am I doing?”

After composing himself, Ichigo managed to change into his clothes and left the ones Grimmjow lent him on the bed as he left the room for what he hoped would be the final time. When he went back into the main room, he found Grimmjow was still stood where he’d been before and Ichigo cleared his throat, gaining the man’s attention.

“I’m uh, gunna go…”

When Grimmjow didn’t reply, Ichigo took that as his cue to leave and went to the flat door to open it. He jumped when Grimmjow pushed it shut and turned around to find the man stood just a few inches away from him.

“Ichigo….”

He quickly covered Grimmjow’s mouth to stop him. Whatever he was going to say, Ichigo didn’t want to hear it, he didn’t want a repeat of the night before. “I already know Grimmjow so don’t say it yeah?” Removing his hand, Ichigo sighed and turned around opening the door again before pausing as he stepped outside. Turning around, he gave Grimmjow a small smile. “You know, when I told you I loved you, I meant it, even if you didn’t.”

Grimmjow’s mouth opened in surprise but before he could respond, Ichigo had already closed the door and was halfway towards the elevator. He knew chasing Ichigo down wouldn’t help the situation so he let him go for the moment. Turning around, he saw Ichigo's school bag lying innocently on the floor near the door and grinned.

“Guess I have a reason to find you later then.”

…

Ichigo sighed in relief when he finally got to school and glanced at his watch, noting he had around ten minutes before the first class. It was only then he realised he had left his bag at Grimmjow’s, and that he had an important project to hand in during his first lesson. Just his luck that his project was currently inside his bag, presumably still at Grimmjow’s apartment.

“Well fuck.”

He was about to turn around and head back, he’d rather be late and have his project then turn up without it, his teacher would skin him alive for that. As he turned, he heard someone shout his name and sighed defeatedly, turning around to see it was Rukia and he felt his normal scowl slide into place as she walked over.

“What Rukia?”

She stopped in front of him and looked down for a moment before sighing heavily. “Sorry.”

Ichigo's eyebrows rose in surprise, he’d never heard Rukia apologise for anything, ever. “Why?” He asked dumfoundedly.

She looked up at him with a frown. “For what happened yesterday of course. I didn’t mean to ruin things between you two.”

He snorted and rolled his eyes. “There wasn’t anything to ruin. But I swear to god if you follow me anywhere again, I might have to kill you.”

Rukia looked up at him hopefully and smiled. “So we’re good?”

“Yeah, we’re good.”

The bell signalling classes rang and Ichigo groaned. “What is it?”

“I left my project in my bag, which is still at Grimmjow’s. I forgot to pick it up this morning.”

Rukia frowned in confusion. “This morning? You spent the night with him?”

Ichigo shook his head as they started walking to class. “Yes, I mean no. I slept in his spare room. It was pouring down with rain and it was dark so I stayed. We didn’t do anything.”

“Ok.” She didn’t press her opinions, for which Ichigo was grateful.

As they stopped outside the classroom, he started chewing his lip in worry. What was he going to say to their teacher to convince her about leaving his project by accident?

“Ichigo!” He jumped and turned around to see Grimmjow coming towards them, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw his bag in the man’s grasp. He held out the bag when he reached them. “Thought you might want this. Don’t you have some big, important project due in today?”

Ichigo, for the moment, forgot about Rukia’s presence. “How did you know that?”

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and smirked. “You’ve blown me off too many times in the past few weeks because you’ve been too busy doing your project. I figured you might want it.”

“Oh, well… Thanks I guess.”

“Don’t mention it. Just make sure to check through it before handing it in. Don’t want to give your teacher something you accidently left in there.” Grimmjow hesitated for a moment, glancing at Rukia before reaching out to cup the side of Ichigo's face, running his thumb along his cheek bone. “See you around Ichi.” With that, he left and walked away down the corridor, presumably to his class.

Ichigo stood staring after him in shock, slowly touching his cheek and frowning in confusion. “Ichi?”

Rukia looked at Ichigo's face and sighed heavily; even to her it was painfully obvious what had happened to him. “Ichigo.”

“Mmm what?” He jerked out of thoughts and looked at Rukia, a blush creeping up on his cheeks. “Anyway, we should go inside now.”

“Sure.”

She followed him inside and they both hastily apologised for being late before going to their seats. As he sat down, Renji lent across from the next desk to whisper to him. “What happened, why are you both late?”

Ichigo shook his head and Renji frowned, but let it drop and returned to sitting upright. He looked down at his bag and sighed, taking out his project before frowning, remembering what Grimmjow had said. “Something inside…”

Renji glanced over with a worried look as he murmured to himself but Ichigo ignored it in favour of opening the folder and flicking though the pages. About halfway through, a small note dropped out onto his desk. He hesitated before picking up the paper and started to open it.

“Ichigo Kurosaki!”

He jumped almost out of his seat and looked up to see his teacher glaring at him. “Yes?”

“Is there something you want to share with the rest of the class?”

Ichigo shook his head and slipped the paper into his pocket. “No, nothing.”

“Ok then. Kindly focus your attention to the front the please.”

“Sorry.”

Renji snickered next to him and Ichigo threw a pen at him, smirking when it hit the side of his face. Grabbing his book and a new pen, Ichigo settled down to pay attention, he really didn’t want to be caught slacking again twice in one lesson.

…

“So Ichigo?”

He glanced up from his food and glared at Renji suspiciously. After two lessons, the note in his pocket had all but been forgotten about and he was currently about to start eating his lunch. “What?”

“What did the note say?”

His eyes widened in surprise and he dropped the food, rummaging in his pocket to find it. “Shit! I forgot about it!”

The panicked tone gained all his friends attention and Renji laughed. “Alright calm down. I’m sure it can’t be that important.”

Ichigo, finally finding the small piece of paper, had stopped listening to Renji and was currently building up the nerve to open the paper. He already knew it was from Grimmjow, but for some reason he couldn’t explain, Ichigo felt extremely nervous about reading it. Finally working up the nerve to do it, he unfolded the paper, his eyes widening in surprise as he read it before he laughed, a wide grin threatening to split his face in two.

Scrambling to his feet, Ichigo shoved everything back in his bag in a hurry. “I’ll see you guys in next class.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’ve gotta go find him.”

“Find who?”

“Grimmjow!” Ichigo yelled the name over his shoulder as he ran off and they all looked at each other uneasily.

“What could he have possibly said to get Ichigo so worked up like that?” Uryu questioned.

Orihime noticed the note Ichigo had read was lying on the floor and picked it up, Rukia watching her do it. “What does it say?”

She frowned in confusion and looked at Rukia. “It says, ‘I meant it too’.”


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Ichigo, after several minutes of searching, finally found Grimmjow outside the front of the school, surrounded by his usual group of friends and fangirls. He slowed down and hesitated, would Grimmjow even acknowledge him in front of everyone?

He didn’t need to worry though, as he paused and debated his dilemma, Grimmjow glanced up and saw him. “Guys I’ll be back in a minute.”

Nnoitra, who was sat next to him, saw who he was looking at and snorted. “Try not to get yourself thrown out again.”

“I’m not going to fight him.”

“Then what are you doing?”

Grimmjow just waved the question off and grabbed his bag, walking over to Ichigo. “Hey Ichigo, you ok?”

Ichigo glanced behind Grimmjow to see everyone was watching them curiously and blushed. “I uh, need to talk to you.”

Grimmjow turned to see what he was looking at and sighed before catching Ichigo's arm and pulling him back into the building and into an empty classroom so they wouldn’t be overheard. Leaning against a desk, he folded his arms and looked at Ichigo. “So what do you need to talk about?”

Ichigo pulled on his sleeve nervously and shifted his weight to his other foot. “I found your note.”

“And?”

He looked up and frowned in confusion. “And what? I was hoping you knew what to do.”

Grimmjow sighed and pushed off the desk to pull Ichigo into his arms. “How would I know?”

“You’ve got more experience at this kind of thing than me.” Ichigo pressed his head to Grimmjow’s chest, mumbling the words.

He snorted and ran a hand through Ichigo's hair. “Trust me when I say, I haven’t got much experience at a real relationship.”

Ichigo pulled back to look at him with a frown. “You’re telling me that you’ve never loved someone? None of the people you’ve been with?”

“Love and lust are two separate things.”

Ichigo grinned and stood up on his tiptoes to kiss Grimmjow quickly. “So which category do I come under?”

“Which do you think?”

“It’s hard to tell with you. Last night you said I meant nothing to you and that I was easily replaceable. Today you’re saying that you meant it when you said you loved me. I don’t know what you think about me.” Ichigo hesitated and looked down. "I don't want you saying you love me one day, only to say I mean nothing to you the next. I can't deal with that."

"Hey." Grimmjow murmured the word softly and lifted Ichigo's head. "I said what I said last night because you would've left regardless of what it was. Besides, at the time I didn't think you loved me so I didn't want to make a fool of myself."

"So that's why you never told me before?"

"Exactly."

Ichigo frowned in thought, shaking his head after a moment with a chuckle. "We've really fucked things up huh?"

Grimmjow grinned and let go of him to lean against the desk again. "Yeah, I guess we have."

The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch and Ichigo sighed, grabbing his bag from the floor. "We should get going, I've already been late for one class today. I can't be for another."

Grimmjow caught his arm at the door, turning him around to kiss him quickly before opening the door and stepping outside the room. "Come to mine after school, we still need to talk."

"Yeah." Ichigo watched him go down the corridor before blushing when he saw a class waiting outside and cleared his throat, hurriedly walking past them to his own lesson.

...

When lessons finally finished, Ichigo could've cheered. The day had gone too slow for his liking, each second feeling like a minute. He smiled at Rukia when she gave him a confused look, mouthing the word 'Grimmjow' and she sighed and looked away. Frowning at her reaction, Ichigo let it go for the moment as he left quickly, intent on getting to Grimmjow's as quickly as possible.

Halfway down the street, he yelped when someone grabbed his bag, pulling him back and turned to glare at them, finding it was Grimmjow. "What the hell was that for?!"

Grimmjow just smirked and let go, falling in step beside Ichigo as he started walking again. "What? You were going pretty fast and I couldn't be bothered to run after you."

Ichigo glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "So calling my name never occurred to you?"

Grimmjow frowned in thought before shrugging. "Nah, I thought it would be funnier to catch you and it was."

"Idiot." Ichigo glanced up at him and smiled softly, blushing when he felt Grimmjow's hand brush his back. "W-what are you doing?"

They slowed down to a stop and Grimmjow glanced around them before leaning forward, pulling Ichigo's body to his as he kissed him. Ichigo, not expecting the sudden affection, froze up and pulled away quickly.

“Why did you do that?”

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and stepped back to give Ichigo some space. “What? It isn’t like we haven’t kissed before.”

“We haven’t in public.” Ichigo pointed out, glancing around warily. “What if someone saw?”

“So?”

"Do you want people to know?"

Grimmjow frowned in thought, taking a few moments to reply. "Dunno, I guess it's better if people don't know. I mean, can you imagine how they'd react?"

Ichigo grinned and shook his head, following Grimmjow as they started walking again. "I know, it isn't exactly what people would imagine to happen. I think most people expect that one day, we're gunna up killing each other." He snorted and glanced down at Ichigo with a soft smile and Ichigo blushed, looking down at the ground. "Why have we been beating each other up for all these years?"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and nudged Ichigo's shoulder playfully. "You know what they say right?"

"No, what?" He looked up with a small frown, something Grimmjow found endearingly cute.

"Guys show their affection through punches, not through words." Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise before he started laughing. "What?"

"I never thought I'd see the day that something sounding philosophical would come from your mouth." He grinned and entwined their hands together, blushing when Grimmjow gave him an amused look. "What? Like you said, there's no-one around to see."

"Exactly."

Pulling on his hand, Grimmjow led Ichigo back to his flat, grinning when they got in the elevator. Ichigo, noticing the grin, scowled and stepped away from him cautiously. "What?"

"We're in a small metal box, and I'm finding it very hard to keep my hands to myself."

Ichigo blushed heavily, pushing away from the wall to stand in front of Grimmjow. "Then why are you?" Wrapping his arms around Grimmjow's neck, Ichigo leant forward and kissed him slowly, pulling away when Grimmjow tried to deepen it. "Don't hold back on me Grimmjow."

"Trust me, I won't."

Cupping Ichigo's face, Grimmjow kissed him again, slipping his tongue into the younger male's mouth when he groaned. Ichigo pushed against his chest, slamming him into the elevator wall forcefully before starting to pull on his shirt, undoing the buttons. He pulled away with a smirk, looking down at Ichigo's flushed face and bright eyes.

"Wait a few minutes Ichigo."

He nodded as the elevator stopped, letting Grimmjow pull him out of the confined space towards his door. When they reached it, he pulled Grimmjow into another kiss, this time it ending up with him with his back against the door.

"Ichigo you're pushing your luck here."

"Maybe I want to." Ichigo grinned as Grimmjow fumbled with his keys, pulling on his tie into another kiss. "I want you now Grimmjow."

"Baby I want you too, but at least wait until we're inside. You're distracting me enough that I can't unlock the door."

Ichigo laughed, but let go and stepped back so Grimmjow could finally get the door open. "Am I really that distracting?"

Finally achieving his goal, Grimmjow looked at Ichigo and smiled softly. "Yeah, you are."

Ichigo's grin melting into a warm smile and he stepped forward into Grimmjow's arms, holding onto him tightly. "Thank you Grimmjow."

"What for?"

"For loving me too."

He snorted and lifted Ichigo's head so their eyes met. "Idiot, you shouldn't thank me. If it weren't for you saying it first, I wouldn't have said it back."

"Mmm, I suppose."

"C'mon, you coming in or not?"

"Yup." Ichigo grinned and took Grimmjow's outstretched hand into his own. "I didn't come all this way to go home now."

"I was hoping you'd say that."

Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise when he was suddenly pulled to Grimmjow's body and lifted up, his back pressed against the wall. "Grimmjow?!"

"What?" He asked innocently, kicking the door shut. "Like you said, you need me. So I'm just speeding things up."

"I-" Ichigo got cut off and his head was pulled down by his tie and Grimmjow kissed him, a soft moan escaping his lips when Grimmjow started palming him though his trousers. "G-grimm..."

"Grimm?" He pulled back to give the blushing teen an amused look. "That's new, I've never been called that before."

"Sorry, it just kinda slipped out." Ichigo looked away and bit his bottom lip worriedly, afraid the stupid, accidental nickname was gunna get him in trouble.

"Don't be, I kinda like it."

"You do?" He looked back at Grimmjow to see he was grinning.

"Yeah, besides, I've given you a nickname haven't I?"

Ichigo blushed and pressed his head to Grimmjow's chest with a groan. "Ichi?"

"Yup."

"Great."

"What? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing." He looked up and shook his head. "It just sounds like itchy as in scratchy."

"I could call you strawberry." Grimmjow teased flicking his nose with a smirk.

Ichigo scowled and rubbed the spot. "Ichi it is then."

Grimmjow laughed, shaking his head when Ichigo's blush brightened. "You really are too cute sometimes."

"Hey! I'm a guy, don't call me cute!"

"You say as I hold you against the wall..." Grimmjow indicated at their current position and Ichigo swore, he'd never been so embarrassed in his life and apparently, that showed on his face too. "Wanna take this into the bedroom?"

Ichigo shivered when Grimmjow's voice lowered, becoming rougher. "Yeah, I do."

Wrapping his arms around Grimmjow's neck, he kissed him slowly, standing again before pulling him towards the bedroom. Halfway there, he swore he heard someone cough and was about to ask Grimmjow, but got distracted when his hand slipped under his shirt.

When his back hit the bedroom door, Ichigo thought he heard something again, forgetting about his as it shirt was pulled off and dropped to the floor unceremoniously. It was all but forgotten in his mind, that was, until there was a louder noise.

"Grimmjow!"

He jumped and quickly pulled away from Grimmjow, glancing over his shoulder to see it was the man's sister and he blushed heavily. Grimmjow turned to see who it was and groaned. "What Nel, can't you see we're in the middle of something?"

"Yeah I can. But I need to talk to you."

He snorted and turned to look at Ichigo, grinning as he lent down to kiss him again. "Whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow."

"It’s about our parents."

Grimmjow instantly stiffened and Ichigo could see his jaw tense. Whatever it was, Grimmjow obviously had problems with his parents. "What about them Nel?"

"They said they're coming down to visit..."

"When?" Nel glanced away, chewing her lip and Ichigo could see she was worried. Hell he was too, Grimmjow wasn't going to take whatever she was about to say very well. "Nel, when are they coming?"

"Tomorrow."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

 _Well fuck. There go our plans for the evening_. Ichigo thought as Grimmjow growled in annoyance, stepping away from him to face his sister.

"Tomorrow?"

"Uhh... Yeah."

"Why the hell didn't you say something earlier?!" He roared, making both Ichigo and Nel jump. "Dammit Nel..." Grimmjow sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, turning to see Ichigo and paused. "You need to go."

"What?" Ichigo scowled when Grimmjow picked up his shirt and pushed it in his arms before dragging him to the door. "Hey!" Pulling his arm free, Ichigo stopped and glared at him. "What the hell Grimmjow?"

"Look..." Grimmjow groaned and glanced at Nel who shook her head slightly. "Our parents aren't people you want to meet."

"Ok, fine I get it."

Grimmjow looked at him stunned, obviously expecting some sort of resistance from him. "What?"

Ichigo shrugged and pulled his shirt back on, grabbed his bag from the floor to sling on his shoulder. "Look, you don't want me to meet them and frankly, I don't want to either. But that doesn't mean you can just chuck me out like this." He squared his shoulders and looked up at Grimmjow calmly. "I deserve a little more than that don't I?"

Grimmjow was still looking at him in confusion, but after a few moments his face relaxed and he gave a short laugh. "Yeah, you do. Sorry Ichigo, my parents just get me wound up."

"Yeah I can see that." Ichigo smiled reassuringly and leaned forward to kiss him quickly. "Call me when they're done visiting so we can finish up."

"I will, it's definitely better they don't see you."

"Mmm? Why's that?" Grimmjow pulled back and hesitated, Ichigo could see behind him Nel was shaking her head with an exasperated sigh. "Grimmjow, why can't they see me?" He asked in a low voice, demanding an answer.

"It's nothing."

Ichigo knew instantly something was up, Grimmjow never dodged a question so pathetically. His eyes narrowed in suspicion and he folded his arms, glaring at the older teen. "Answer the question."

Grimmjow sighed and rubbed the back of his neck before replying slowly. "It's just... They wouldn't want me to date you. They wouldn't like you."

"Why? What's wrong with me?" Ichigo frowned in confusion, how could two people he'd never met, dislike him? They didn't even know he existed. "What did you tell them about me? I'm the delinquent you're always fighting?"

"No it's nothing to do with that!" Grimmjow groaned and grasped Ichigo's shoulders, looking at him imploringly. "They just wouldn't approve."

"Why?"

"Because..." Grimmjow let go of one of his shoulders to wave his hand at him. "You know..."

"What? I'm a guy?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow at the reason which in his mind, was completely ridiculous. "Are your parents homophobic or something?"

"No, not particularly. It's just... They want me to be with some rich business tycoon's daughter, someone preferably beautiful, who I can marry and get a business deal with her father." Grimmjow shrugged and ran a hand through his hair. "Probably pop out a few kids whilst I'm at it too."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed in annoyance, letting the emotion flood his system to drown out any other emotions, such as hurt, he was feeling. "And what? I'm not rich enough for them? I'm not perfect enough?"

"No, it's got nothing to do with you!"

"Well it sure as hell sounds like it does!" He pulled away from Grimmjow with a huff and turned around to open the door. "Sorry I'm not some blonde bimbo with a rich daddy who will magically fall in love with you. Sorry I'm not _beautiful_ enough for you."

"Ichigo..."

"Don't!"  He whirled around and glared at Grimmjow. "Don't. I won't stick around and wait for the day you leave me when you or your parents find some rich guys daughter! I won't wait to be dropped like that!"

"I wouldn't do that to you!" Grimmjow's voice rose and he grabbed Ichigo's arm, pulling him back slightly.

Ichigo, with his free hand, swung round and threw a punch, catching Grimmjow on his chin, forcing him to stumble back and also let go of his arm. "Really? So you can promise me that in a year’s time we'll still be together?" When Grimmjow didn't respond, he laughed bitterly. "How about five years? Or ten? I didn't think so."

"But-"

"No buts Grimmjow. I'm leaving and I'm not coming back." Ichigo strode to the open door and hesitated, turning to look at him again. "I'm never going to be good enough for you so what's the point in even trying?" He left without another word, slamming the door shut behind him.

Grimmjow groaned heavily and lent against the table, holding his heads in his hands. "Great, just fucking great..."

"Well that went well." His head snapped up and he looked at Nel in shock, suddenly remembering she was there and had witnessed the whole thing with Ichigo. She smiled sadly at him and came over to pat his shoulder. "Guess you two can't keep things simple can you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well... There always seems to be drama between you two. Maybe it's best this happened. I don't think it would've worked out anyway."

"Yeah and why's that?" Grimmjow asked, standing up again to look at her with a bitter smile.

"Too much history." She replied simply before walking to the door and opening it. "See you tomorrow Grimmjow."

"Yeah..." He watched the door shut with a soft click and sighed heavily, pondering Nel's last words. "History..."

...

Ichigo paused when he left the apartment complex, shaking his head when he got soaked instantly. Twice, in the space of twenty-four hours had he left Grimmjow's apartment after an argument and ended up in the rain. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

_No crying this time Ichigo. Don't give him the satisfaction of your tears twice for the same goddamn reason. Better now than later as you said last night. Grimmjow isn't worth your trouble._

_But... I love him._ A smaller voice butted in, hesitant and unsure with its reasoning.

_Love hurts._

_Doesn't change things though, I still love him._

Ichigo squashed the small voice, burying his feelings at the back of his mind to deal with later. "Fucking arguing with myself over something so ridiculous." He muttered, before opening his eyes with a sigh and setting off home.

When Ichigo got home half an hour later, he was soaked to the bone and shivering so badly he was practically vibrating. With a particularly heavy shudder, he pulled out his keys and fumbled with the lock for a few moments before unlocking the door and going inside.

Closing the door, Ichigo sighed and leant against it for a moment before slowly peeling off his soaking clothes until he was down to his underwear and dropped the dripping clothes in the bag Yuzu had left at the door. Shaking his wet hair, he quickly headed upstairs to change before anyone came to investigate and found him stood in the hallway in his boxers.

"Ichi-nii?" Yuzu called up the stairs a few minutes later when she spotted the wet clothes next to the door. "Are you home?"

"Yeah Yuzu, just getting changed!" He called back, pulling a top on and a pair of sweatpants before heading down again. "Unless you want me walking around in my underwear?"

She wrinkled her nose. "No thanks, I don't need the nightmares."

"Hey that's cruel."

She stuck her tongue out at him and grinned before going back to sit on the sofa with everyone else. Ichigo sighed and grabbed the bag, taking his clothes to the drier, pulling out the dripping clothing, looking down at them with a frown.

"What's wrong with you? You look like your cat died."

Ichigo jumped and the clothes slid from his hands as he turned to glare at his other sister. "Damn Karin!"

She smirked and walked over to him, observing him carefully. "So what happened?"

Ichigo snorted and bent down to throw the clothes in the drier. "My cat didn't die if that's what you mean."

She rolled her eyes and hopped up onto the counter as Ichigo opened the cupboards in search of food. "Obviously, you don't own a cat. So you gunna tell me or what?"

Ichigo sighed heavily and glanced at her, deciding out of everyone in their family, she was the best one to talk to. "Remember Grimmjow?"

She frowned in thought for a moment before nodding. "Blue haired guy you fight at the dojo?"

"Yeah, him."

"What about him?"

"We haven't been fighting for a few months now."

"So what have you-" Her eyes widened in understanding and she cleared her throat. "Oh."

"Yeah, he's my 'secret boyfriend', if you can call him that. Anyway, we had an argument and I found out what I am to him and left." He shrugged and grabbed a can from the shelves. "Doesn't matter really. I was stupid for thinking anything could happen with us."

"Do you love him?"

Ichigo paused and glanced at Karin to see her watching him levelly, no emotions clear in her grey eyes. "Yes."

"Then you are stupid."

He laughed before smiling. "Thanks for the reminder."

"You're welcome." She smiled back and hopped off the counter to hug him quickly. "He doesn't deserve you anyway."

With that, she left the kitchen and Ichigo smiled softly, feeling better about the whole situation. That was, at least until his phone rang. With a sigh he went back into the hallway and rooted in his bag to find it, answering without thinking or looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Ichigo?" He straightened up quickly, almost ending the call then, but something inside him wouldn't allow it. "Ichigo, you there?"

"What do you want Grimmjow?"

"C'mon Ichigo, don't be mad at me. Look, I'm outside, you gunna let me in?"

"I dunno, should I?"

"Yeah, I've got something to show you." Ichigo rolled his eyes and ended the call, glancing at the door hesitantly. Curiosity getting the better of him, Ichigo opened the door to find Grimmjow stood there with a smirk, holding a box. "Hey."

"What's in the box?"

"I'll show you if you let me in."

Ichigo sighed and stepped aside, letting the man in. Grimmjow handed him the box and took his coat off which Ichigo took and hung up. He opened his mouth to speak but Ichigo covered his mouth and pressed a finger to his lips, jerking a thumb in the direction of his family's voices. Grimmjow nodded and took the box back as Ichigo glanced around warily before beckoning him to follow him upstairs and into his room.

"What the hell are you doing here Grimmjow?" He asked, shutting the door behind them whilst glaring at the man. "Didn't I make myself clear earlier?"

"Yeah, you did. But I decided to ignore it." Grimmjow smirked and held out the box again. "This is yours."

"What is it?"

"A box dumbass, open it."

Ichigo scowled at him, but still reached out to take the box, setting it on the bed. "What's in it?"

"Just open it."

He snorted and shook his head at the answer before opening it carefully, expecting something to jump out at him. What he found instead was several different things, all small in size and when he pulled one out to see it was a shoe, he could see it was several years old.

"What's with these? Are they meant to mean something to me?"

Grimmjow took the shoe from his hands and looked down at it with a frown. "When you left, Nel said something to me which got me thinking."

"Yeah, what's that?"

"She said we would never work because we have too much history."

Ichigo frowned in thought as he looked at the shoe, his eyes widening in understanding before he looked back in the box. "These are all mine aren't they?"

"Yeah."

Ichigo picked up the items, taking them out of the box. The other shoe, a couple of bags, some clothing, even a few books came out, each one bringing back memories for him. The last thing he pulled out was a small lion teddy, his colour faded from the years it had been left in a corner somewhere. Holding the teddy close and brushing some dust off its nose, Ichigo could remember clearly losing the teddy, and how much it hurt. 

"You took all this?" He looked up at Grimmjow, seeing he was watching him carefully. "Why?"

"Because I wanted to hurt you."

"What?"

Grimmjow sighed and ran a hand through his hair, messing up his unruly hair further. "When we were younger, I was jealous of you."

"Why?" Ichigo asked, confused beyond belief. "You were the popular kid with all the money and toys you could ever want. What could I possibly have that you didn't?"

"Because you had a family, and I didn't. No amount of toys could make up for that." He sighed and looked at Ichigo again, moving to grasp his arms. "You had everything I wanted but couldn't have, so I wanted you to suffer."

"Is that why you always beat me up? Took my things?"

"Yes."

"You fucking bastard." Ichigo pulled away and glared at him. "I went through all that shit with you, because you were jealous?! Do you know how much it hurt when you beat me up? Took my things? I learnt to fight so I could defend myself from you!" Ichigo paused and looked down at the teddy again. "Your sister's right, we can never work because of what's happened between us."

"That's bullshit Ichigo." Grimmjow moved forward to lift Ichigo's head and smiled at him. "Nel's wrong. I think, because of our history we can work."

"How?"

He sighed and looked at the teddy Ichigo was clutching tightly, frowning slightly. "By letting go. All this arguing and shit we're going through now is because we haven't gotten over our past." He looked back at Ichigo and smiled. "I'm ready to move on. Are you?"

Ichigo felt his body tremor slightly and he shook his head slightly. "I don't know how."

"How about we start with this." Grimmjow grabbed the teddy gently. "Let go Ichigo."

Ichigo looked at Grimmjow for a moment, frozen in place by fear. "What if I can't?" He whispered, gripping it tighter. "I can't Grimmjow."

"If you can't let go of this Ichigo, you'll never do it." Ichigo closed his eyes and sighed shakily, slowly letting go of the teddy. When he let go, Grimmjow took it and placed it on the side, moving back to cup Ichigo's face. "See? It's not that hard."

Ichigo smiled weakly and moved into his arms with a heavy sigh. "I don't want to fight any more Grimm." He mumbled, nuzzling his head to Grimmjow's chest. "I'm tired of fighting."

"So am I Ichi." He glanced back and slowly moved to sit on Ichigo's bed, pulling the younger teen onto his lap. "So am I."


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Ichigo's eyes closed in contentment when Grimmjow pulled him onto his bed and held him tightly. For a while, he was happy to just sit there and enjoy the relative peace he'd never really felt before. But eventually, he lifted his head to look at Grimmjow searchingly.

"What is it?" He asked, a frown marring his face.

"Shouldn't you go home?" Ichigo asked, pulling away from him. "Your parents are coming round tomorrow aren't they?" Grimmjow sighed when he heard the bitterness in Ichigo's voice and quickly rolled him onto his back, leaning over him. "Hey!"

"Shut up and listen to me Ichigo." He glared at Grimmjow, but kept his mouth shut as the tone in his voice left no room for argument. "I know you still think I'm gunna leave you, but I'm not ok." Ichigo turned his head to the side, refusing to meet Grimmjow's eyes. "Not now, not in a year, or five, or ten. Understand?"

"What about your parents?"

"Who gives a shit? I don't care what they think; they can't force me to marry someone I don't want to. I don't care that you’re not rich, or that we can't have kids, or that you're not the most beautiful person in the world - but you should know you are to me - it's my parents who care about that crap, not me."

"But-"

Grimmjow frowned and covered his mouth. "No buts Ichigo. Why else would I be here if I didn't want to be with you?" He sighed and uncovered Ichigo's mouth, running his thumb over his bottom lip. "I love you." He murmured, Ichigo barely hearing the words. "Isn't that enough?"

Ichigo, for the first time in his life, saw vulnerability in Grimmjow, and it scared him to see the man like that. Smiling softly, he leant forward to kiss him before nodding. "Yes, it's enough."

Of course, he didn't leave it as a simple kiss as he leant forward again, pressing their lips more firmly together, pulling on Grimmjow's hair gently to make him groan. "Ichigo..."

"Mmm?"

"Fuck, you're making it hard for me to control myself."

Ichigo grinned and nuzzled his neck, kissing it softly. "Maybe I don't want you to. Show me how much you love me Grimm."

Just like that, any restraint he had snapped and Grimmjow practically ripped both their clothes off and looked down at Ichigo with a smile. Running his hand up Ichigo's thigh, he felt the younger teen shudder and lent closer, placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

"I'm going to make love to you Ichigo. I'm going to show you what you mean to me."

Ichigo blushed, nodding shyly as he gazed into Grimmjow's blue eyes, feeling his soul laid bared for Grimmjow to see. Wrapping his arms around his neck, Ichigo pulled him down into another kiss. "Ok." He breathed, nuzzling his face into Grimmjow's neck. "I want you."

Grimmjow smiled but didn't reply, keeping true to his word he took his time, savouring every part of Ichigo as though it was their last chance to be together. Ichigo clung to Grimmjow tightly, forcing himself to be quiet so his family didn't hear. His body trembled in Grimmjow's arms, he couldn't comprehend what was happening, what Grimmjow was doing to him and making him feel.

All he could see was Grimmjow. All he could hear was Grimmjow whispering sweet nothings into his ear. All he could feel was Grimmjow, going so slow it was torturous yet so good at the same time that he didn't want it to end.

Ichigo had never felt more alive than he did right then, and he wanted it to last forever. He really tried but in the end, when it was over, he smiled happily and curled up against Grimmjow side with a satisfied sigh.

"Grimm..."

"Yeah Ichi?"

Using what little strength he had left, Ichigo lifted himself up to gaze at Grimmjow with a tired grin. "That was something else."

Grimmjow chuckled and kissed him quickly. "Glad you enjoyed yourself."

Ichigo collapsed on his chest with a groan, humming appreciatively when Grimmjow rubbed his back soothingly. "I love you." He murmured, the words slipping out unconsciously. "I don't want this to end."

"You know what they say, all good things must come to an end, and so on."

He snorted, thumping Grimmjow's chest lightly. "Stop trying to sound smart or wise, it sounds strange."

Grimmjow chuckled, his hand moving to run through Ichigo's hair. "I love you too Ichi."

Ichigo smiled, nuzzling his head to Grimmjow's chest with a heavy sigh as he fell asleep. "Stupid..." He mumbled, the word barely audible but still caught and the last thing he heard was Grimmjow laugh again as he slipped into unconsciousness.

...

When he woke up in the morning, Ichigo stretched and rubbed the back of his head, opening his eyes slowly. When his vision cleared, he could see he was still lying on Grimmjow, who was fast asleep. Ichigo paused and took a moment to watch him sleep, his face smoothed free of any emotion and he looked oddly calm, peaceful even.

Ichigo snorted and carefully rolled off of him, getting off the bed with a soft thump. Casting a glance at Grimmjow to see he was still asleep, he stretched again and pulled on his boxers to head for a shower. When he came back, Grimmjow hadn't even moved an inch and he smiled softly, sitting down next to him to run his hand gently through his messy blue locks.

Grimmjow stirred slightly, opened one eye to look at Ichigo and he smiled. "Hey."

"Morning." Ichigo grinned and lent down to kiss him, laughing lightly when he was pulled down and held against his chest. "You smell."

"Thanks. What of?"

"Sex." Ichigo sat up and poked his chest. "You need a shower before you even think of going near my family."

Grimmjow frowned and sat up with a groan, looking away from him. "Your family?" He asked quietly,

Ichigo immediately backtracked, afraid he'd taken it too far, too fast. "You know, if you want to. I can always sneak you out, but I can't guarantee it. Or you could go out the window, but it's a long drop."

"Mmm." He looked at Ichigo, seeing his worried face and chuckled, pulling him onto his lap. "Don't worry so much Ichigo, you'll give yourself a heart attack one of these days."

"Grimmjow?"

"Yeah?"

Ichigo pulled back and smiled coyly. "Do you really think it's a good idea for me to be sitting on you? Especially when you're naked and I'm only in a towel?"

"Fine I get the point, I'll go shower. But you're gunna have to show me where."

Ichigo stood up and rolled his eyes. "Fine, but I'm not walking around in a towel." With a smirk he unwrapped it and chucked it at Grimmjow, quickly pulling on a shirt and clean underwear whilst he was distracted.

"It aint like I haven't seen you naked before."

"I know, but I also know you can't help yourself." Ichigo stuck his tongue out childishly as Grimmjow pulled on his own boxers. "C'mon then, you've gotta hurry if you don't want my family to see you." Grabbing his hand before he could protest, Ichigo opened his door slowly and peeked out. "Ok, it's clear."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and lent forward. "No Tango's in sight?" He whispered, making Ichigo jump and whirl around to glare at him.

'Ha ha." Pulling him from the room, they carefully made their way down to the bathroom unnoticed and Ichigo pushed him in. "There you go, the bathroom."

"Thanks." He kissed Ichigo quickly and smiled. "Ten minutes tops."

"M'kay, hurry up then before everyone wakes up."

"Gotcha."

He kissed Ichigo again and watched him go back to his room before heading into the bathroom to shower. Once he'd finished, Grimmjow donned a towel around his waist and grabbed his clothing to leave the bathroom, stopping short when he found a young girl with brown hair outside, staring at him in shock.

"Uh... Hi?"

She opened her mouth and Grimmjow flinched when she screamed and ran into the adjacent room. "Dad! Dad get up! There's a strange man in the house!"

"Well shit..." He sighed and turned to find another girl of around the same age, this time with black hair, eyeing him suspiciously. "You're not gunna scream too are you?"

"Depends." She said, walking closer to him. "You're obviously not a burglar."

"Yeah, what gave it away?"

She smiled at his sarcasm. "Burglar's don't shower in their victim's homes."

"Very smart of you to observe that."

"Anyway I know who you are."

Grimmjow opened his mouth to ask what she meant because they'd obviously never met, but never got the chance as he was tackled to the floor and pinned down. "What the hell?!"

"Yuzu darling don't be afraid! I've caught the burglar he won't hurt you!" The man pinning him down yelled into the room where the brown haired girl had ran, who Grimmjow assumed was Yuzu. The man turned his attention to him and grinned, unnerving him slightly. "So may I ask why a burglar would be interested in showering here?"

"What the hell is going on?!" They both looked up to see Ichigo scowling at them, hands on hips and Grimmjow couldn't help but laugh, making Ichigo's eyes narrow further. "Is something funny?"

"You look like a pissed off housewife!"

Ichigo tched and kicked Isshin off Grimmjow, hauling him to his feet. "Shut up Grimmjow before I let my father attack you again."

Isshin looked at the two of them, his face dawning in understanding. "So this is your secret boyfriend then?"

That sobered Grimmjow up quickly and he cleared his throat. "Yeah, I guess that's me. Not a burglar." He said, catching sight of Yuzu peeking out of the bedroom timidly.

Karin muttered something under her breath and walked off, Yuzu slowly creeping out of the bedroom to follow her, staying clear of Grimmjow. "Well done, I think you've scarred Yuzu for life."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and flashed a smirk at Ichigo. "Nah, she'll be fine, I didn't do anything to her."

"You better not have." Ichigo jumped violently when Isshin suddenly squealed, yelping when he was pulled into a hug. "Dad!" He yelled, struggling to break free and failing miserably.

"My darling son I was hoping you would introduce us to your boyfriend soon! You've grown up so fast I can't believe you’re in a relationship at your tender age!"

"Oh my god, let go you freak!"

Ichigo managed to knee Isshin in the stomach and jump back out of his arms. Unfortunately for him, he lost his balance and stumbled back into Grimmjow, who steadied him quickly. "Careful Ichigo."

"I'm fine." He muttered, blushing furiously before glancing at Grimmjow shyly. "Sorry about my dad."

Grimmjow shrugged. "It could've been worse I suppose."

Ichigo glanced at his father who was recovering from the kick and sighed. "Go get changed Grimm, I've gotta deal with him so I'll meet you downstairs when you're ready."

"Ok." Grimmjow caught his arm and pulled Ichigo towards him, kissing him softly. "See you in a few."

Ichigo blushed again as he left to go back to his bedroom, sighing when Isshin finally recovered. "So you've met him now. Can you please just act normal?"

Isshin beamed proudly and ruffled Ichigo's hair. "I'm proud of you kid."

Ichigo scowled and attempted to fix the damage whilst glaring at him. "Idiot, why? It's not like I haven't dated other people before."

"Because you're happy with him, I can see it in your eyes when you look at him." Isshin said, becoming serious which was rare for him so Ichigo listened, even if what he said was highly embarrassing.

"Yeah well, I like him, a lot..."

Isshin nodded before frowning in thought. "Why was he in the shower?"

Ichigo groaned and rubbed his face, attempting to hide his guilty look. "Because he stayed the night..."

"Well, as long as you are careful I don't mind." He said cheerfully, clapping his hands together as Ichigo looked at him in shock. "Just make sure to use protection and don't do it when your sisters are home again! They are too young to be hearing anything of the sort!" Ichigo swore he almost fainted on the spot as all his blood rushed to his cheeks and all he could manage was to nod dumbly. Isshin grinned and clapped his shoulder before bounding down the stairs. "Hurry up before breakfast gets cold!”


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Ichigo watched his father bound the stairs and sighed heavily before turning and slowly going back to his room. He opened the door and looked up, watching Grimmjow as he pulled his shirt on.

"Hey."

Grimmjow turned to look at him and grinned, buttoning up the shirt. "Hey yourself. You ok?"

"Yeah." Ichigo sighed and moved forward into Grimmjow's arms, smiling when he pulled him closer. "I'm sorry about my family." He murmured into his chest. "I know you didn't want to meet them."

Grimmjow frowned and lifted Ichigo’s head so their eyes met. “You know, I thought of something in the shower.”

“What?”

“I thought of a deal.”

Ichigo frowned in confusion. “What kind of deal?”

“I’ll meet your family, if you’ll come with me later to meet my parents.”

His eyes widened in surprise and he quickly backed out of Grimmjow’s arms. “Do you really think that’s a good idea? Considering everything you’ve told me about them, they won’t like me.”

“I know, doesn’t change the fact that they’re gunna find out about you eventually.” Grimmjow smiled reassuringly and pulled Ichigo into his arms again. “They probably won’t ever like you, but that doesn’t mean you should run and hide from them. That aint the Ichigo I know, is it?”

Ichigo sighed heavily and shook his head. “No it’s not. I don’t run and hide; you of all people should know that.”

“Good. So we have a deal then?”

Ichigo sucked on his bottom lip for a moment, weighing up the options in his head. With a shrug, he decided to just roll with it; after all, he could always blame Grimmjow for anything that happened since it was his idea in the first place. “Sure.” He stood up on his tiptoes and placed a chaste kiss on Grimmjow’s lips with a grin. “C’mon, if we don’t hurry up, my dad will start getting impatient.”

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow in question, catching Ichigo around the waist when he went to walk past him. “Oh yeah? What’s he gunna do?”

“That’s the big problem, I don’t know. He could do anything so it’s better to not get him excited or all hell could break loose.” Ichigo looked up at him to see he was smirking and frowned suspiciously. “Whatever you’re thinking, don’t do it.”

“What? I wasn’t thinking about anything.” He said, all too innocently for Ichigo’s taste.

“For some reason, I don’t believe you.” Ichigo rolled his eyes and grabbed Grimmjow’s hand, pulling him out of the room. “C’mon, let’s get this nightmare over with already.”

“You make it sound like we’re going on a death march.”

Ichigo paused at the bottom of the stairs and glanced back at Grimmjow, his face set with a grim smile. “Yeah, that’s pretty much the gist of what’s about to happen.”

Grimmjow was going to ask him what he meant by that, but never got the chance as they were suddenly assaulted by his father. “Ichigo my darling son! Why have you hidden this boyfriend of yours from us for so long! Are you ashamed? Are you worried about what I would think?”

Ichigo opened his mouth to reply, sighing and shaking his head when his father continued.

“You need not worry my boy! I will always be proud of you, no matter who you choose to love!” Isshin suddenly turned his attention to Grimmjow, who eyed him warily. “So, I hope you’re being careful with Ichigo, I don’t want him in pain because of you. He's very sensitive, did you know that-”

“Oh my god!” Ichigo yelled out, kicked him in the stomach. “Shut up! We are never, EVER, discussing that, ok?”

“But Ichigo… I want to make sure he’s taking care of you!”

“I don’t need taking care of! I’m capable of looking after myself thanks!” Ichigo paused and sighed heavy, glancing at Grimmjow to send him an apologetic look. “Sorry, I tried to warn you.”

Grimmjow just shrugged and slung and arm over Ichigo’s shoulders, kissing his temple. “Don’t worry about it Ichigo, it aint that bad.”

Ichigo sighed again and looked up at him with a scowl. "You're being affectionate."

"So?"

"Why?"

Grimmjow shrugged, flashing his trademark smirk at Ichigo. "Do I need a reason?"

"Someone pass me a bucket, I think I'm gunna throw up." Ichigo scowled and looked away from Grimmjow to see Karin watching them with a grin. "So Ichigo, what's happened since last night? After all, you seemed pretty adamant that you two were finished."

"Oh? What you been saying about me Ichigo?" Grimmjow asked in mock offence.

"Nothing. Just, after yesterday I did think we were through until you came here." Ichigo blushed and looked away. "I guess you changed my mind."

"Urgh, please don't start kissing, I'm only just about holding my breakfast down."

"Karin!" Ichigo said indignantly, glaring at her as she laughed and went back into the main room. "Well, its official, my family is the biggest bunch of jerks ever to live.”

“Nah, they aint that bad.” Grimmjow shrugged and winked at Ichigo. “Just wait until you meet my parents, your family look like saints compared to them.”

Ichigo scoffed, but a small smile pulled at the corner of his lips. With a sigh, he caught Grimmjow’s hand in his own and glanced at the older teen. “C’mon, I’m hungry and I’m betting you are to. If there’s one thing I can say about Yuzu, she’s a great cook.”

“Ok?”

Grimmjow let Ichigo pull him into the kitchen, sitting down at the chair he indicated at and Ichigo sat next to him.

“Ichi-nii? I made toast and porridge, are you staying this morning?” Yuzu looked into the room, smiling when she saw he was sat at the table with Grimmjow. “I’m making extra then?”

“Yuzu, you make plenty for an army, don’t worry about making extra.” He replied, smiling at her as she grinned and nodded, disappearing back into the kitchen. He blushed when Grimmjow grinned at him, clearing his throat. “What?”

“She doesn’t seem like much of a nutcase to me.”

Ichigo rolled his eyes, leaning back in his seat to glance at Karin who was watching them both with an impassive look on her face. “She isn’t, everyone else around here is.”

“Including you then?” She replied, not flicker of emotion shown.

“Oh ha-ha.” Ichigo grinned at her, throwing a piece of toast when Yuzu set the plate down which she nimbly caught and began eating.  “What?” He asked innocently when Yuzu gave him a disapproving look.

“I thought you’d be on your best behaviour.” She commented, looking at Grimmjow with a grin. “After all, you don’t want your boyfriend thinking you’re a rude delinquent do you?”

“Oh don’t worry about it, I already know he is. That’s what I like about him.”

Ichigo choked on his drink as Karin started laughing and Yuzu smiled, sitting down quietly. “Hey!”

“What? I’m being honest. You are a delinquent. After all, how many times have we been caught fighting and been punished for it?”

Ichigo opened his mouth to argue, but considered what Grimmjow had said and shrugged. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“So that’s where I know you from!”

Grimmjow jumped when Isshin finally joined them, announcing his presence by yelling behind him and almost making him spill his drink. “You’re the blue-haired kid that was always picking on my little Ichigo!”

“Yes sir, that’s me. Although, we haven’t fought in a while now. How long’s it been Ichigo?”

He glanced at Ichigo who shrugged and finished his mouthful before replying. “Couple of months I guess. But you already knew that didn’t you dad? I know you and Uncle Kisuke talk about us fighting.”

Isshin shrugged and started piling his plate with food. “It’s not my business to pry into every aspect of your life.” He said, too innocently to be believed. “How would I know if you stopped fighting?”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Ichigo went back to his food and Grimmjow found that Yuzu was looking at him with a soft smile. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

“No.” She said shaking her head. “Just nice to see Ichigo happy for once.”

Karin rolled her eyes. “C’mon Yuzu, it’s the first time we’ve ever seen Ichigo smile this much, period. He’s been scowling that much it was almost permanent.”

“Shut up you two, just because I don’t go around smiling goofily all the time, doesn’t mean I’m not happy.” Ichigo put in, his cheeks tinged pink. “I just don’t feel like looking like an idiot.”

Isshin shook his head, smiling softly to himself. What Yuzu had said was true. Ichigo was rarely seen smiling since Masaki’s death, and to see him happy now, meant Grimmjow was very important to him.

When everyone had finished, Ichigo quickly grabbed the plates and looked at Grimmjow expectantly. “Can you help me out in the kitchen?”

“Sure.” He got up and followed Ichigo, waiting until he’d dumped the plates in the sink and turned around to face him. “So what’s up?”

Ichigo sighed and stepped closer to him, grasping the sides of his shirt gently. “How are you? Everything ok with my family?”

Grimmjow looked down into Ichigo’s worried eyes and smiled reassuringly. “I’m fine Ichigo, stop worrying. It’s not as bad as I thought it’d be.”

“Why, what did you expect to happen?”

“You know, the whole ‘I’m gunna interrogate you to make sure you’re good enough to date my son’ kinda thing.”

Ichigo chuckled and pulled him down into a kiss. “Don’t worry; dad’s too idiotic to get to that stage. By the time he realises he should have asked you that, we’ll have gotten married and have several kids.”

Grimmjow pulled back and smirked. “Married with kids? That’s where you see this going?”

Ichigo blushed heavily and stepped away from him, refusing to look at him. “No of course not! I was just trying to say my father's an idiot.”

“So in five years’ time, where do you think we’ll be?”

“I don’t know, you think we’ll be together in five years?”

Grimmjow shrugged and pulled Ichigo back into his arms. “I told you last night I wouldn’t leave you didn’t I?”

“Things can change.”

“Not how I feel about you.”

“You mean that?” Ichigo asked quietly, looking up at him.

“Wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.”

He cupped Ichigo’s face, leaning down to kiss him slowly. Ichigo’s eyes fluttered shut and he grasped the back of Grimmjow’s shirt, pulling him closer which was retaliated by him being pushed against the counter.  Never being in the situation before where they had to stop, Ichigo found it very hard to pull away.

“Grimm, we gotta stop.”

“Why?” he murmured, kissing Ichigo’s neck and making the younger teen shudder. “You’re obviously enjoying it.”

“My family…”

He groaned and pulled back, kissing Ichigo quickly. “Fine, I’ll stop for now. Don’t want someone walking in on us huh.”

“Not a good idea. It’s enough for one day to have you introduced. Let’s leave that for another time.”

Grimmjow chuckled and let him go so he could turn back to the sink and start cleaning up like he’d said ten minutes ago. “Ichigo?”

“Mmm?”

“I-" He paused when his phone rang and pulled it out, groaning when he saw it was. “Nel.” He said, answering Ichigo’s questioning look before answering the call. “Yeah?”

“Grimmjow where are you? I had to let our parents into your flat since you weren’t here. They’re not happy about that since you knew they were coming.”

“Shit, sorry Nel. I’m at Ichigo’s, guess I lost track of time. We’ll be there soon.”

“What do you mean ‘we’?”

“As in, Ichigo’s coming too.”

Nel hesitated before speaking quietly down the line, obviously not wanting their parents to hear. “You sure that’s a good idea?”

“Nope but what can I do? They’ll find out eventually. Better now than later I guess.”

“You always know how to piss them off don’t you?”

“That’s my job.” He grinned at Ichigo when he finished and pulled him back into his arms. “We’ll leave in a moment so be there in about half an hour. See you then.”

“Ok, bye.”

Grimmjow ended the call and looked down to see Ichigo’s worried face. “Ready to go?”

“No, but I don’t really have much of a choice. We made a deal and I plan to stick by it.” Ichigo squared his shoulders and sighed heavily. “Ok, let’s get this over with then.”


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Grimmjow grinned and lent down to kiss Ichigo quickly. "Great, we better hurry. Each minute we're late is another year they'll hate you."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, but smiled anyway. "Thanks for the reassurance."

"Oh I am reassuring you. They definitely won't like you, ever."

Ichigo just smiled and pushed Grimmjow away with a sigh. "Never try to reassure me. You're shit at it."

"Why thank you."

Shaking his head, Ichigo left Grimmjow to himself and went back into the dining room to find only his father remained, the twins gone off. "Dad?"

"Yes Ichigo?" He looked up inquiringly at Ichigo, who shifted nervously in front of him. "What's wrong?"

"I'm uh, going to Grimmjow's." He hesitated and glanced at Isshin. "You ok with that?"

Isshin smiled softly. "Of course, have fun."

Ichigo eyebrows rose in surprise when he didn't make a big fuss and stood staring at him for a moment before clearing his throat and nodding. "Thanks, I guess I'll see you later then."

"Call if you're going to stay the night with him."

"Sure."

Ichigo smiled fleetingly before escaping and Isshin sighed, leaning back in his chair with a thoughtful frown. Grimmjow had changed Ichigo, he'd seen it in the past few weeks, Ichigo had, to some degree, calmed. His energy being channelled in another way other than fighting, something Isshin was grateful for.

Ichigo frowned to himself as he wandered back to the kitchen, trying and failing to understand his father's odd behaviour. Shaking his head, he smiled at Grimmjow when he entered the kitchen. "He's fine with it."

"Great, ready to go then?"

Ichigo nodded, letting Grimmjow grab his hand before leading him back into the hallway and out to the front door. "Wait a sec."

Grimmjow paused and glanced at him with a confused frown. "What?"

"C'mere." Still frowning, he lent closer as asked and Ichigo smiled softly before kissing him gently. "Promise you won't let your parents come between us."

Grimmjow snorted softly and rolled his eyes. "I should be asking you that."

"So will you?"

He smiled and kissed Ichigo again. "Promise."

"Good."

Ichigo smiled and stepped away from Grimmjow so he could grab his coat and shoes. Sighing heavily, he opened the door, closing it behind them before rubbing his arms when the cold seeped through his coat.

"Damn, it's cold." Grimmjow glanced at him, noting the shivers and sighed, wrapping an arm around his waist to pull him against his side. Ichigo stiffened slightly and glanced up at him with a frown. "What are you doing?"

"Keeping you warm dumbass. Don't complain, you were whining about the cold weren't you?"

Ichigo scowled at Grimmjow before blowing out a breath, leaning into him gratefully. "Thanks."

They walked in a comfortable silence back to Grimmjow's, something Ichigo was grateful for so he could prepare himself for the onslaught he was sure he was about to receive. Grimmjow glanced down to see Ichigo chewing his lip and nudged his shoulder.

"C'mon, it won't be as bad as you think."

"Oh really?" Ichigo looked up at him with a wry smile. "So they won't tear me to shreds and wish we never met?"

Grimmjow just grinned before leaning down to kiss him. "Ok, it's as bad as you think."

"Thanks."

Grimmjow chuckled at Ichigo's flat answer and dropped his arm from his waist to take his hand and lead him into the building and up to his apartment. Pausing outside the door, he glanced at Ichigo one last time.

"You sure you're ok with this? You can always go now, they'll never know."

Ichigo's eyes flashed in defiance. "You think I'm going to run away?"

"Of course not, I was just making a mere suggestion in the hopes I could save you from this misery."

He scoffed, a hint of a smile pulling at his lips. "Whatever. Let's get this over with already."

"Your funeral." Grimmjow kissed him before he could respond and opened the door, pulling him inside. "Hello?"

"Grimmjow is that you?" A female voice called down the corridor and he sighed, rolling his eyes at Ichigo.

"Who else would it be mother?" Ichigo sighed heavily, smiling at Grimmjow gratefully when he squeezed his hand reassuringly. "You'll be fine."

"Mmm."

Ichigo heard the woman walk down the hallway and shook his head. When she came into the room however, his eyes widened in surprise at just how beautiful she was. It was obvious Grimmjow got his looks from her, although his blue hair must have come from his Father, since his Mother's was blonde. Her blue eyes fixed on him and Ichigo almost flinched at the icy look, finding himself looking away almost immediately.

"Who's this?" She asked, looking down to see their entwined hands. "Ah, I see."

Grimmjow frowned, looking at her definitely. "It's not like that, we've been together for a few months now."

Ichigo looked up at him with a frown, shutting his mouth when Grimmjow tugged his hand and shook his head slightly. Ichigo sighed, if Grimmjow wanted to tell them they'd been together from the beginning, then whatever.

She looked at them both suspiciously, her eyes narrowing slightly before she turned to walk back down the hallway. "Grimmshaw, come here."

Ichigo glanced up at Grimmjow worriedly and he shook his head again. "It'll be fine Ichi, stop worrying."

"Easy for you to say." He muttered, smiling when Grimmjow snorted and nuzzled his head.

"That went pretty well, all things considered."

"Well?"

Grimmjow grinned and lead Ichigo into the kitchen, leaning against the counter before pulling him into his arms. "Yeah, she could've said something to you. No words of disapproval."

"Yet."

"Yet." He echoed, sighing and shaking his head. "You're being depressive."

"Mmm." Ichigo sighed heavily and rested his head on Grimmjow's chest, listening to his heart beat for a moment. "Grimm?"

"Yeah?"

He lifted his head to look up at Grimmjow. "I'm glad we managed to be like this."

"Like what?"

He looked down, playing with the button on his shirt. "Calm I suppose, happy. No fighting, I'm tired of fighting." Tugging on the shirt, he pulled Grimmjow down and kissed him. "This is much better."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely."

Grimmjow kissed him again, neither of them noticing his father come back into the room. He chuckled when Ichigo nipped his lip and pressed their bodies together. Grabbing his hands, he kissed the top of one.

"God you have no idea how badly I want you right now."

Ichigo blushed and looked away. "Yeah, I do." He murmured softly, glancing back shyly. "I want you too."

"Grimmjow."

They broke apart quickly when someone said his name sharply, Ichigo assuming it was his father and when looking over Grimmjow's shoulder, he could see that he was right. The man was essentially an older version of Grimmjow, with the additions of a few age lines and greying hair. Grimmjow got the best of both from them, resulting in his good looks.

"Hey dad, where's Nel?" Grimmjow asked casually, obviously more comfortable around him than his mother.

"She went out, said she had some business to do and will be back later." He finally seemed to notice Ichigo and observed him carefully through scrutinising eyes. "I take it this is the boy your mother was going on about?"

"He has a name." Grimmjow looked at Ichigo and held out his hand, something he quickly grasped tightly to feel some measure of comfort. "Right Ichigo?"

He nodded tightly, offering his father a small smile. "It's nice to meet you Mr Jaeggerjaques."

"Mmm yes." He looked back at Grimmjow. "We need to talk, now."

"So talk."

"Privately."

His voice left no room for reasoning and Ichigo was surprised at how Grimmjow stood his ground. "Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of Ichigo."

"Now Grimmjow, don't forget who allows you to stay here. That right can easily be taken away if you're not careful." Grimmjow glared at him, dropping his gaze after a few moments. "Now, come on."

His father turned and left the room, presumably to go to wherever his mother was. Once he'd left Grimmjow sighed heavily and glanced at Ichigo with a wry smile. "He likes you."

Ichigo smiled amusedly. "Really? So what would he have done if he didn't?"

He shrugged, running a hand through his hair. "Dunno, probably demanded you leave. I'm not too sure about my mother though, she didn't seem too pleased."

"Yeah."

He nudged Ichigo's shoulder playfully. "Don't worry about it, I've got your back."

"Well that sounds so reassuring."

Grimmjow laughed and kissed him quickly. "Stop worrying. I better go see what they want, be back in a few 'kay?"

"Yeah."

Ichigo sighed and watched him go before sitting down on the sofa and rubbing his head. Whatever he'd been expecting, it hadn't been this. He wasn't sure how to react, how to behave. Any wrong move could destroy any chance he had at making Grimmjow's parents like him. He snorted to himself, at least he had Grimmjow, and maybe Nel, she seemed to like him from what he could tell.

Glancing up when yelling started, he sighed again and looked down at his hands. Obviously his presence caused tension in the family, even to cause an argument of such magnitude Ichigo could make out words as voices were raised, such as 'wrong' and 'disrespectful'.

"I don't care what you think!" Ichigo's head snapped up when he heard Grimmjow's voice clearly, frowning when the door slammed open. "I'm not leaving him!"

Grimmjow strode back into the room and Ichigo stood up quickly as he spotted him and came over. "Is everything ok?"

He reached out and cradled Ichigo's cheek, sighing heavily and shaking his head. "Guess I was wrong about my dad liking you, he was just that annoyed he couldn't think of something to say to you."

"And your mother?"

He snorted, shaking his head. "Wants me to break up with you, they both do."

Ichigo stiffened, fear clenching his heart. "And will you?"

Grimmjow's face softened and he smiled. "No, of course not. I made you a promise I intend to keep. I won't leave you."

He sighed and relaxed, smiling back. "Thank you."

Grimmjow pulled him closer and rested his head on top of Ichigo's. "I won't leave you." He repeated more firmly, reassuringly. "I won't."

"I know Grimm." He grasped the back of his shirt and smiled. "I believe you."

He felt Grimmjow stiffen and glanced up from his arms to see his parents had followed him back into to the room. "What?" He snapped, turning to stand between them and Ichigo. "I told you I won't do it."

His mother saw Ichigo peeking over Grimmjow's shoulder and frowned. "I think you've been away from home for too long. It's time you came back."

"You can't be serious. I'm in the middle of my school year! I've got exams soon, do you really think that's a good idea?"

"It's for the best." This time, his father spoke up, looking at his son imploringly. "You need to be with us, at home."

"This is my home, I'm not leaving."

"And where will you go? We won't pay for you to live here anymore."

Grimmjow hesitated, having no answer and Ichigo squeezed his hand, gaining his attention. "You can stay with me."

"Ichigo I can't ask you for that." Grimmjow shook his head but Ichigo smiled reassuringly.

"I don't mind, where else will you go? Besides, my dad won't mind, promise."

Grimmjow looked at him uncertainly for a moment before smiling. "Thank you." Squeezing his hand back, he turned to look at his parents again. "Well there you go, I'll stay with Ichigo."

His mother didn't take that very well and she stepped forward, her eyes blazing in fury. "We are your parents and you dare turn against us? After everything we've done for you? Could you be more ungrateful?"

"I don't care what you think. You're forcing this on me, I'm standing my ground."

Grimmshaw laid a hand on his wife's arm and looked at Grimmjow sadly. "If that's how you want this to go then fine. We'll leave and stay with your sister, but you can't stay here anymore. I'm cancelling the rent when we go down so you better pack." He turned to leave, grabbing his coat. "This isn't over and you will be coming back to Germany with us, no matter what you say."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

They left and Grimmjow sighed in relief before smiling at Ichigo tiredly. "Guess I should pack huh?"

Ichigo watched him go into his bedroom and sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair, chewing his lip worriedly. He walked into the bedroom, waiting until Grimmjow noticed him and paused.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry." Ichigo shook his head and looked down, wrapping his arms around himself. "This is all happening because of me. I'm the reason you're being kicked out. I'm the reason your parents want to you go back to Germany."

"Hey." Grimmjow murmured softly, pulling Ichigo into your arms. "It’s not your fault." He sighed when Ichigo glared at him. "Ok, yeah, it’s kinda your fault. But that doesn't matter. I've never been their ideal son. This was just the last straw."

"Thanks for making me feel better." He muttered sarcastically, still smiling despite himself.

"Anytime." Ruffling his hair, Grimmjow went back to packing. "You sure it's ok to stay at yours? If not, I can always crash at Nnoitra's."

"It's fine, trust me. My dad might be a bit weary of us in the same room at first, but he'll get over it."

"I can always sleep on the sofa."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, a smile pulling at his lips. "Yeah, you might have to the first few nights until he trusts you."

"You mean, when he knows I won't take advantage of living with you?" He stopped and sat down on the bed with a groan, smiling wryly at Ichigo. "C'mere."

Ichigo grinned and went to him, sliding down to sit in his lap and gently threaded his fingers through his hair. "I know you, you'll take advantage."

"Only when no-one's there to see."

He laughed lightly, kissing the top of Grimmjow's head, down the side of his face and paused, hovering over his lips. "Tell me you love me."

"I love you."

"Again."

"I love you."

"Again."

Grimmjow smiled and leaned forward, kissing him. "I love you."

Grabbing his hips, Grimmjow flipped their positions and Ichigo giggled, looking up at him suggestively whilst his hands moved to start undoing the buttons on his shirt. "I love you too."

"Yeah you better do, after all the shit you're putting me through."

"Maybe I should reward you?"

"Hmm... sounds good. But, you gotta help me pack afterwards. After all, we're going to waste at least an hour."

"An hour? That all you got in you?"

Grimmjow growled and lent down to nip Ichigo's lip. "We've gotta be quick."

"Maybe we should wait?"

"Yeah right, since when have you been patient?"

Ichigo shivered when he kissed across his jawline and started pulling his shirt up. "Mmm... now sounds good."

"I thought so."

...

Ichigo sat up with a groan, watching as Grimmjow threw the last of his belongings into a bag and paused to look up at him. "So much for helping me pack huh."

He smiled and crawled over to him, kneeling in front him. "Whose fault is that?"

"Yours, can't handle it can you." Grimmjow grinned and lent closer to him. "Even after the amount of times we've had sex, you still can't can you?"

"Maybe it's because the sex is just that damn good." Grabbing Grimmjow's shirt, he pulled him down onto the bed and sat on his stomach. "Besides, I was just admiring the view, since you chose to finish packing in your underwear."

Grimmjow snorted and ran his hands up Ichigo's hips slowly. "I think you make the better view, since you're still naked."

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo pushed him back on the bed when he leaned in to kiss him before getting up to grab his clothes to change into them. "Whatever you say Grimm." He found his phone and called home, obviously they wouldn't be able to walk back with all of Grimmjow's things. "Hello?"

"Ichigo?"

"Hey dad, I need a favour."

His father took a moment to respond, a heavy sigh audible over the line. "Has this got something to do with Grimmjow?"

"Uh, yeah." He glanced at Grimmjow who was currently in the middle of tugging his shirt on, not paying attention to the conversation. "He needs somewhere to stay and I said he could stay with us. If you're ok with it?"

"What happened?"

Ichigo sighed heavily and rubbed his face, smiling when Grimmjow pulled him back against him and leaned back gratefully. "His parents don't like me and are kicking him out because he refused to break up with me."

His father again, didn't respond for a few minutes and Ichigo chewed his lip in worry. What if he said no? Would Grimmjow really be ok to stay with Nnoitra? He had to find some way of persuading his dad, after all, it was his fault Grimmjow couldn't live in his flat anymore.

He looked up when Grimmjow nudged his head and shook his head at his questioning look, putting a hand over the mic to speak to him quietly. "He's thinking about it."

"Mmm." Grimmjow nuzzled his neck and Ichigo's eyes closed in content, almost forgetting about the phone in his hand until his father's voice rang through.

"Ichigo?"

He jumped violently, smacking Grimmjow's shoulder when he started laughing before answering. "Yes dad?"

"Grimmjow can stay, on one condition."

"Yes?" Ichigo sat up excitedly, grinning at Grimmjow and beckoning him closer.

"He sleeps on the sofa."

He laughed in relief, shaking his head at Grimmjow when he mouthed 'what'. "Yeah, yeah of course. Umm can I ask for another favour?"

"You want a lift?"

"Yeah?"

Isshin sighed down the line, but Ichigo could tell it was for theatrical purposes. "All right, I'll be there in half an hour."

"Great, thanks dad." Ichigo ended the call and smiled at Grimmjow smugly. "See, told you he would be ok with it. He did have one condition though."

"Which was?"

"You sleep on the sofa." He laughed when Grimmjow pulled a face of distaste and moved forward to kiss him. "Don't worry, it will only be for a bit. I'll wear him down, see what I can do."

"Thanks."

Pushing him back, Ichigo sat down on his stomach again and smiled at him. "How long do you think we can take?"

"Of what?"

"Me and you, living together."

Grimmjow shrugged and pulled Ichigo down to rest on top of him. "Dunno. I don't expect it to be all hearts and roses though."

Ichigo snorted, running his hand lightly over Grimmjow's stomach, feeling his muscles move with each breath. "Mmm. But we'll be fine, won't we?"

"I don't know."

They lay in silence for a while and Ichigo finally lifted his head to look at Grimmjow worriedly. "We can try though."

"Of course." He smiled reassuringly at Ichigo, sitting up to pull him into his arms and sighed heavily. "I'm sure it'll be fine." Ichigo smiled back, less reassuringly but still, a part of him believed that, which was all Grimmjow needed to see. "Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"How long until your dad gets here?"

"I dunno, he said half an hour, but that could mean an hour or ten minutes when it concerns him." Ichigo grinned slyly, kissing the exposed skin of his shoulder. "Why?"

"Half an hour?" Grimmjow smirked and ran his hands down Ichigo's hips to start pulling his zipper down. "Bet I can get you off before your dad gets here."

"Ha, you can try if you want."

...

Grimmjow smirked and pulled away from Ichigo to glance at his watch. "Fifteen minutes." He declared smugly. "Told you I'd be able to do it."

Ichigo groaned and covered his face in embarrassment as Grimmjow starting laughing. "Shut up!" He sat up and sighed, grabbing the box of tissues to clean himself up. "I can't believe you sometimes."

"What? It aint my fault your easy to please."

Ichigo paused and looked up to glare at Grimmjow. "Easy to please huh?"

"Aww c'mon Ichi, you know I'm joking."

He snorted and threw the tissue at the bin, growling when he missed before doing his trousers up again. "Let's just see how long you last then without sex."

Grimmjow sobered up quickly at his statement and sat up with a frown. "You wouldn't."

"Watch me."

"You're not really gunna hold out on me are you?" He asked cautiously, watching as Ichigo threw the tissue in the bin before sighing and turning to look at him.

"Tell you what." Ichigo smirked and walked back over to him and kissed him quickly on the lips. "The next time we have sex, I top. Until then, no sex."

"Tell me you're joking."

"Nope."

"I fucking hate you." Grimmjow groaned, falling backwards on the bed. "Manipulative bastard."

"So what do you say?"

"Hell no." He sat up and glared at Ichigo. "No way in hell will I let you do that to me."

"Why not? You do it to me all the time. It aint that bad you know."

"Never."

Ichigo sighed and shrugged, turning to leave the room. "Whatever, I bet you cave before me." He left the room with a smirk, he knew Grimmjow would never let him top, but he did want to see how long the man could go without sex. "Are you coming or not, my dad will be here in a few minutes!" He called, grabbing a couple of Grimmjow's bags.

He heard Grimmjow curse before moving around, presumably changing and after a few minutes, he came out with his bag in tow and scowled at Ichigo. "I hope you're happy."

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" He grinned before placing a chaste kiss on Grimmjow's cheek. "Ready to go?"

Grimmjow frowned and touched his cheek before sighing. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, but left to go wait by the elevator for Grimmjow, giving him a moment alone before he joined him. “Ok?”

“Yeah.”

They got in the elevator and left the building in silence, Ichigo worrying about his father and Grimmjow for exactly the same reason, what was going to happen next? When they went outside, Ichigo glanced around and spotted his father’s car and nudged Grimmjow’s arm before indicating at it.

“That’s him.” Grimmjow glanced at him with a frown and Ichigo smiled reassuringly. “It’s gunna be fine.”

“I’ve just realised something.” He murmured as they started walking towards the car and Ichigo looked at him curiously.

“What?”

“I only met your family today, and now I’m moving in with you. Doesn’t that sound just the slightest bit weird?”

Ichigo grinned and nodded. “Yeah it does. But then again, our whole relationship is classed under ‘weird’ isn’t it?”

“I suppose it is.”

“Wait to people find out you’re living with me, that’s when it’ll start. It won’t be long after that they finally figure out we’re together.” Ichigo chuckled at the thought and smiled amusedly. “Oh god, I can’t wait to see Ishida’s face. Remind me to take a photo, it’ll be priceless.”

“What about everyone else?” Grimmjow paused and turned to face Ichigo, his tone indicating he was completely serious. “This isn’t going to go down well, you know that right?”

Ichigo sighed, but nodded. “Yeah, I know. I’m trying to fight the best of a worst situation. Can you blame me?”

“No. I’d rather keep this private though.”

“So would I, but how long do you think we can keep this under wraps if you live with me? People already notice we don’t fight anymore. Hell there’s rumours going around about us now.” Ichigo smiled amusedly. “Either we’re together or are planning world domination.”

“Seriously?”

“Yup. Think about it. We used to hate each other, and made no secret of it. Now we aren’t just civil, we’re friendly. What are people supposed to think?” Ichigo shrugged and started walking again, Grimmjow soon following to keep pace. “Honestly, it would be cool if we could achieve world domination.”

Grimmjow snorted and rolled his eyes. “Only you would think that.”

“Yeah, but it still sounds cool.” They reached the car and Ichigo opened the boot to throw Grimmjow’s bags in before letting Grimmjow into the back and sitting next to his father and smiled. “Hey dad.”

“Ichigo.” He glanced in the mirror to see Grimmjow in the back and grinned, suddenly turning around and launching himself at the man. “My future-son-in-law!”

Grimmjow’s eyes widened comically as Isshin attacked him and Ichigo couldn’t help but laugh, his worries for the moment forgotten. Maybe living with Grimmjow wouldn’t be so bad after all.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

When Isshin finally calmed down, with the help of Ichigo dragging him off Grimmjow, he managed to start the car and drive them home. By the time they got back, it was getting dark and Ichigo shivered when he stepped out the car, rubbing his arms as he waited for Grimmjow to get out and smiled at him.

"Sorry about dad, he's a bit of a nut-case."

"Yeah, I figured that out on my own." Grimmjow noticed Ichigo was shivering and sighed, pulling him to his body and wrapped his arms around him. "Cold?"

"Mmm." Ichigo smiled into his chest before looking up at him. "Let's get your stuff and go inside yeah?"

"Yeah." Grimmjow let go of him so he could open the boot and grab his things. Following Ichigo inside, they took his stuff up to his room and Ichigo sighed, turning to look at him. "What?"

"Nothing. I was just thinking it's gunna be a pain for you to have your stuff up here, yet be sleeping downstairs." Ichigo frowned in thought. "I'm gunna have to work on dad, after all, you've already slept with me once."

"Actually, I think you'll find I've slept with you several times."

Ichigo snorted and rolled his eyes. "You know what I meant."

Grimmjow just smirked and pulled him closer. "Your dad will come around eventually. He just wants to make sure I'm not taking advantage of you."

"Yeah, besides, we're not gunna be having sex for a while are we?"

He grinned at Grimmjow when he groaned. "C'mon Ichigo, don't do this to me. I won't let you top and you know it."

"Why not?"

"Because I've never bottomed and never will. So don't try to make me, that'll just make things worse." He caught Ichigo's hands and kissed the top of one. "Just let it drop yeah?"

"Fine." Ichigo leant forward and kissed him. "You know, whatever the problem is, you can always tell me. Even if it's just your pride getting in the way."

"Oh thanks."

He grinned and stepped back to sit on the bed, holding out a hand for Grimmjow to take and join him. "You can trust me."

"I know." Grimmjow sat down next to him and sighed, looking down at his hands. "It's just, sex is something I can control you know? Well, to an extent I guess. I've never really had much control over anything else."

Ichigo's expression softened and he gently touched his arm. "Grimm..."

"I mean, I could never stop my parents leaving, I couldn't make them accept who I am. I can't stop them hating you, hating us." He paused and sighed deeply before looking at Ichigo. "Guess I don't have much control over anything do I?"

Ichigo shook his head and moved to sit in his lap before grabbing his hand pressing it to his chest. "You control my heart."

"Ichigo..."

"I meant it, you can either keep it safe, or you can break it. That's up to you." Ichigo smiled softly and pressed his head to Grimmjow's neck. "You can control some things, it depends on how you treat them, that's what matters."

"Hey." He lifted Ichigo's head and lent forward to kiss him. "Thank you."

"Any time." Ichigo kissed him again, threading his fingers in Grimmjow's hair and tugged gently. "Fuck Grimm..."

"Yeah?"

"If we were alone, I swear to god you wouldn't be wearing clothes right now."

Grimmjow snorted. "Come on, we've already had sex once today, and I got you off soon after. You can't seriously tell me you want to go again?"

"Hey, I'm a seventeen year old teenager at his sexual peak right now. And you aren't helping matters." Ichigo grinned and kissed him again. "You're too damn sexy for your own good."

"Coming from you?" Grimmjow ran his hands down Ichigo's hips and sighed. "Even when we were fighting, I could still appreciate how attractive you were. It used to piss me off so badly."

"How come?"

"Because I thought I couldn't have you." He shook his head and smiled wryly. "I even hated thinking of you like that, hated feeling that attraction."

"All it took was that one mistake." Ichigo murmured, resting his head on Grimmjow's shoulder. "Can you imagine what would have happened if I didn't kiss you?"

"We'd still be fighting and bitching about each other?"

"Probably." Ichigo smiled before sighing. "I'm glad I kissed you, even if I consider it a mistake."

"You still do?"

"Yeah. But a good mistake."

"Huh, I suppose it was." Grimmjow frowned thoughtfully before laughing. "Can you imagine if someone told you at the beginning of the year, we would be together in a few months, and I would be moving in with you?"

"I would've told them to stop smoking weed." Ichigo laughed, looking at Grimmjow again. "But hey, they would've been right. I don't know why, but we somehow work and I'm glad we do."

"Me too Ichi." They kissed again, Ichigo slowly rocking his hips into Grimmjow's, who pulled away with a groan. "C'mon Ichigo, don't make this hard on me. You know we can't have sex now."

"You're no fun." Ichigo pouted and playfully bit Grimmjow's lip before standing up and smoothing his shirt down. "C'mon then, let's go downstairs before dad thinks we really are having sex and comes to investigate."

"That sounds like a plan." He stood up and followed Ichigo downstairs, nodded at Isshin as they passed him on the stairs and grinned at Ichigo. "Guess you were right huh?"

"Yup. He's serious about keeping an eye on us. Don't expect any privacy." Ichigo chuckled when Grimmjow sighed and grabbed his arm to pulling him over to the sofa and sat down with a groan. "Better get used to it Grimm."

"Great." Grimmjow sat down next to him, throwing an arm around his shoulders. "I can't wait until the next time I'm alone then."

Ichigo curled up against his side and smiled softly, running his fingers over Grimmjow's stomach. "Well you'll be waiting a while."

"I'm so glad you talked me into staying here."

"I am too."

"I was being sarcastic."

Ichigo rolled his eyes before sitting up to kiss him quickly and smile. "I know, but I wasn't."

For what was left of the day, Ichigo was grateful nothing eventful happened. They ate dinner quietly, Yuzu going all out to impress Grimmjow, who seemed to enjoy the food before he helped her clean up, insisting it was all he could do to say thank you.

He sat down next to Ichigo with a groan when he finished, giving Ichigo a satisfied smiled. "Your sister's a good cook."

"She was trying to impress you. I'd say she did a good job by the look on your face. Never eat much homemade cooking?"

"Nah. Unless I cooked it myself and I can't cook."

"Lucky for you then that Yuzu can." Ichigo sat up to kiss him softly. "You should get used to it, she's gunna spoil you rotten with food. But promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Don't get fat."

"What?" He looked at Ichigo in amusement. "So if I got fat, would you dump me?"

"Hell yeah."

"Well, nice to know why you're with me then."

Ichigo laughed lightly, nuzzling Grimmjow's neck. "You know I love you. I won't mind if you do put on a bit of weight."

"Well then, watch out because I might just do that." He grinned when Ichigo rolled his eyes and settled down next to him again. "As long as you don't get fat."

"You do, I do."

"Ok fine, how about we don't change then?"

"Sounds good."

"Yeah, I like you the way you are." Grimmjow lifted Ichigo's head, leaning down to kiss him. "Don't go changing on me too soon."

"Promise, as long as you don't either."

"Promise."

"Good." Ichigo sat up and stretched. "I'm gunna go shower, you ok down here?"

"Sure, I'll go in after you."

"M'kay." Ichigo kissed him again before leaving to go upstairs to shower, calling down the stairs to Grimmjow when he was done before returning to him room to change. He was lying on his bed, idly reading a book when Grimmjow came in. "Hey."

"Hey. Where are my clothes?" Grimmjow looked around the room and frowned when he couldn't find his bag.

"In the wardrobe." Ichigo pointed at his, flicking the page without glancing at Grimmjow as he opened it to find his clothes and changed.

"You put my clothes away?"

"I couldn't move in my room, your stuff was everywhere. So I tidied up a bit, you can move things around if you want to."

"Nah, this is ok I suppose. But you're gunna have to tell me where all my things are."

Ichigo sighed and sat up, rolling his eyes at Grimmjow before getting up to show him where he'd put everything. "Ok?" He asked, after giving him the grand tour of his small room. "Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so." Grimmjow smirked at him and hooked an arm around his waist to pull him to his body. "You're pretty good at this huh."

"Good at what?"

"Making space, doing things for me."

Ichigo frowned and looked up at him worriedly. "You're not mad are you?"

"No, of course not. I'm just not used to someone caring." He sighed and shook his head. "It's strange, I feel kinda useless."

Ichigo hummed lightly, standing on his tiptoes to kiss Grimmjow. "Trust me, you're anything but useless."

"Thanks."

"No problem." Kissing him again, Ichigo stepped away to grab his book and mark his page before grinning at Grimmjow and grabbing his hand. "C'mon, let's go set up your bed."

"Oh great, can't wait for this."

...

Ichigo woke up with a start and sat bolt upright, staring into the darkness for a moment. He sighed deeply and rubbed his arms, reaching out blindly to find his phone and flinched when the bright light hit his face. Squinting at the object, he groaned and threw it across the room when he read it was half two in the morning.

Rubbing the back of his head, he laid down and rolled over on his side, sighing heavily. After being with Grimmjow for so long, it felt strange to be alone and he felt a pang in his chest.

Ichigo kicked the covers off and slowly stood up, making his way slowly across the room before padding downstairs. He heading for the living room and found the edge of the sofa, smiling when he could hear Grimmjow snoring softly.

Finding the edge of the quilt, he crawled under and pressed himself to Grimmjow's body, smiling into his chest when he wrapped an arm around him. He sighed and closed his eyes, finally feeling comfortable and fell asleep quickly.

...

Grimmjow frowned when he woke up and turned his head, his eyes slowly opening to widen in shock when he saw Ichigo curled up against him, fast asleep. He touched his cheek, smiling when Ichigo sighed and rubbed his cheek against his fingertips.

"Ichigo..."

"Mmm..." Ichigo responded to his name, reaching out to run his hand down Grimmjow's arm and sighed again. "Grimmjow?"

"Yup."

Ichigo's eyes flickered open and he focused on Grimmjow, smiling lopsidedly. "Hey."

"Hey yourself. When did you come down?"

"What time is it?"

Grimmjow frowned and looked at his watch. "About eight."

"Then five and a half hours." He raised an eyebrow and Ichigo blushed before groaning and hiding his face. "Don't. I woke up and wanted to see you so I came down. As much I hate to admit it, the sofa's quite comfortable."

"Want to swap then?"

"Hell no. It's only comfortable because you're here."

"Oh really." Grimmjow lent down and kissed the back of his neck. "You're quite comfortable too by the way." He whispered, smirking when Ichigo shivered and groaned into the pillow.

"Go away!"

"Love you to Ichi." Kissing his neck again, Grimmjow stood up and stretched, snorting when he caught Ichigo peeking at him through the covers. "Like what you see?"

"Yeah. Shame I can't have I though." Ichigo sat up and pressed his hand to Grimmjow's stomach and grinned at him. "Perks of moving in."

"Hey, if I wake up to you every morning, I'm happy."

Ichigo blushed and stood up, trailing his hand up to rest on Grimmjow's chest. "Shut up Grimmjow." He whispered, leaning forward and kissing him. "I love you."

"Love you too Ichi."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

Ichigo wasn't wrong, when they got to school on Monday morning, they received a few strange looks as they walked in together. Grimmjow glanced around and frowned. "Jeeze you weren't kidding were you."

"Nope." Ichigo paused at his locker and opened it to throw in his books for later lessons, save his shoulder the strain. Closing the locker he looked at Grimmjow and grinned. "Wanna really freak them out?"

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow and glanced around again, noting several people had followed them inside. "How so?"

"Simple." Ichigo turned to lean against the locker and look at him expectantly. "Kiss me."

"Really? I thought you wanted to keep this quiet?"

He sighed and looked down. "I'm tired of lying, besides, they're gunna find out soon enough. Why not make it on our terms?"

Grimmjow thought about it for a moment before grinning and placing his hands on either side of Ichigo's head and lent closer. "Whatever happens next, it's your fault."

"I can live with that."

Ichigo lifted his head as Grimmjow bent down and pressed their lips together firmly for a moment before stepping back. He grinned at Ichigo and winked. "See you later Ichigo, don't wanna be late for class do we?"

"No, definitely not. See you later."

He watched Grimmjow leave and grinned before picking up his bag and making his way to class. As he passed the people in the hallway who'd followed them in, he had to suppress his laughter at the look of sheer surprise on their faces. Even he could admit the idea of him and Grimmjow seemed ridiculous, seeing it must be even harder to comprehend.

Slipping into the classroom, he made his way to his usual seat, sitting down as the bell rand and flashed Renji a grin. He rolled his eyes, mouthing 'where were you?' and Ichigo shook his head before turning to pull his book out of his bag to write notes.

After class they headed upstairs to meet up with everyone and Renji frowned as they past people, who were looking at Ichigo strangely and whispering. "Uh, Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you done something recently? Everyone's giving you a weird look."

Ichigo looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe they're looking at you."

"Nah. I've been keeping a low down recently. Dad will kill me if I get into trouble and ship me off to a private school. No more of that 'public riffraff'."

"I assume you're talking about me and everyone else?"

"Yup." Renji grinned and him as Ichigo shook his head. "So, what you do?"

"Kissed Grimmjow."

"Mmm, that's nice. What's that got to do with why everyone's looking at you?" His eyes widened in realisation. "You didn't."

"Yup."

"Seriously?"

"Yup."

He frowned in confusion and Ichigo could practically see his mind trying to figure it out. "Why? I thought you two were y'know..." He waved his hand, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"Fuck buddies?"

"Uh, yeah."

Ichigo sighed and shook his head. "No, we're actually together."

"As in, a relationship?"

He rolled his eyes and smiled amusedly as they reached the top of the stairs and opened the door. "Yeah Renji, that's what together means doesn't it?"

"Well yeah, but... Grimmjow? Really?"

"What about Grimmjow?"

Uryu looked at them both questioningly as they sat down and Ichigo shrugged, taking a bite of his sandwich before replying. "Renji can't wrap his head around me and Grimmjow."

"What, that you hate each other? I thought everyone knew that."

Renji snorted and looked at Ichigo who nodded, continuing to eat. "They're dating."

Uryu spat out his drink and his eyes widened comically as Rukia started laughing hysterically. "Dating?! You and Grimmjow Jaeggerjaques?!"

"That's what he said didn't he?"

Rukia rolled her eyes and slapped him on the back as he started coughing. "Haven't you heard yet? They were kissing earlier in school, everyone knows now. You're probably the last to hear."

"Lucky me." Uryu pushed his glasses back up his nose and looked at Ichigo curiously. "So?"

"So what?"

"How long have you been 'dating'?" He took another tentative sip of his drink.

"Officially? About three days I think, or maybe four. Since last Friday anyway. How long have we been sleeping together? Gotta be over three months nearly four now." Ichigo ducked as another fountain of juice came his way. "Jeeze Uryu, it aint that surprising."

"Isn't it? Last I heard you hated each other and were always fighting. Now you're dating and you've slept with him. I think that classes as surprising." He frowned and put his drink down, deciding it wasn't a good idea to try again. "What about Orihime?"

"What about her?"

"She likes you."

"That's nice, I like her too." Uryu gave him a dirty look as Renji laughed and shook his head whilst Rukia sighed heavily. "What?"

"He meant as in she has a crush on you doofus. Bet she wouldn't mind trading places with Grimmjow."

Renji held up a hand, waiting until he calmed down to speak. "Actually, I think it'd be hard for her to full Grimmjow's shoes. Especially in the bedroom, don't you think Ichigo?"

Ichigo's face turned red and he punched Renji's arm roughly. "Shut up! Who told you I bottomed?! For all you know I top."

"But you don't."

Throwing the remains of his sandwich at Renji, Ichigo turned to look at Rukia and Uryu. "You serious about Orihime?"

"Of course, she's liked you since kindergarten idiot. I can't believe you've never noticed."

"Well his radar doesn't exactly point to women does it." Rukia shrugged, flashing Ichigo a smirk when he groaned. "Ah well, she'll know by now about you two. Probably why she isn't up here with us."

"Fuck, what the hell am I supposed to say to her? Sorry Orihime I just happen to like guys so I can't love you?"

"Something like that, but more subtle." Rukia glanced behind Ichigo and sighed. "Better think of something quick."

"Why?"

"Duck."

He ducked on warning, feeling the air above his head shift and ruffle his hair. Before he could react he was hauled to his feet and came face to face to a murderous Tatsuki.

"Uhh... hi?" She slapped him across the face with enough force to make his head snap to the side. "Nice to see you too."

"What the hell are you playing at?!"

Ichigo frowned and stepped away slowly. "Well I was eating lunch." He ducked again as she threw a punch. "What are you doing?"

"You broke her heart!"

His eyes widened in understanding and he rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "Oh."

"That's all you have to say? Oh? She's crying her eyes out downstairs and that's it from you?!"

"Look I didn't know she liked me. It isn't my fault, I can't help who I love."

"Love?" Tatsuki snorted and folded her arms, eyeing him sceptically and Ichigo sighed in relief when she stopped attacking him. "You think it's love with him? That's messed up Ichigo."

"Yeah I know. Doesn't change anything though. Grimmjow's an ass, an idiot, a complete pain in the ass and sometimes I can't stand to be around him. But I still love him."

"But does he love you?"

"Yes." Ichigo nodded to solidify the fact. "I know he does. Look I'm sorry about Orihime, really I am. If I liked girls she'd be perfect for me." He paused and sighed, looking away. "But I don't, I like Grimmjow." He murmured quietly. "I know things would be easier if I loved her but I can't change that now, sorry."

"You've fucked things up royally, you know that right?" Tatsuki grinned and him and Ichigo smiled back, knowing she was fine now.

"Yeah I know. When don't I?"

"Never." She turned to leave but Ichigo grabbed her arm.

"Tell Orihime I really am sorry."

"I will." She pulled her arm free and left, turning back to grin at him before disappearing and Ichigo groaned, sitting down again.

"I hate my life sometimes."

"C'mon it aint that bad. You just found out one of your friends love you and have broken her heart. You're dating an asshole and the whole school now knows. How bad could it be?" Rukia grinned when Ichigo groaned again.

"I hate you."

"Seriously though, what's so special about Grimmjow?" She leant I forward enticingly, obviously interested in what Ichigo had to say. "Is the sex really that good that it makes you forget you're supposed to hate him?"

"No of course not!" Ichigo sighed and shook his head. "Yes, the sex is good, doesn't mean that's all there is to us."

Uryu wrinkled his nose. "As nice as it is to know about your sex life, I'm also intrigued by this. Why Grimmjow?"

"I dunno." Ichigo shrugged and pulled at his bag before sighing heavily. "It wasn't love at first sight..."

"Or fuck."

"Thank you Renji." Ichigo shot him a look, making him shut up instantly so he could continue. "I guess he grew on me, the more time we spent together, the more I realised he was ok, and it kinda just developed." Ichigo paused and frowned. "If I'd known this would happen, I don't think I would've let it..."

"So you're saying, if you had a choice you wouldn't choose to love him?"

Ichigo looked at Uryu in surprise before slowly shaking his head. "I don't know." The bell rang at that moment, saving him from anymore discussing as they packed up and headed back inside for afternoon lessons. Ichigo frowned at his book, Uryu's question still burning in his mind.

_Would I, if I had a choice? Would I choose to love him? Our relationship has only brought problems since day one. How could I choose to love him, life would be easier if I didn't. But I do, so I can't change that. But if I could..._

"Ichigo?"

_How can I even think that, I love him. How could I possibly want to change that? Maybe I don't love him as much as I thought I did._

"Ichigo!"

He jumped when Renji shook his shoulder and looked at him with a frown. "What?"

"School's over, you ok?"

Ichigo sighed and stood up, waving off his concerned look. "I'm fine, just thinking."

"About?"

"What do you think?"

"Grimmjow."

"Exactly." As they walked down the corridor, Ichigo caught sight of Grimmjow waiting for him next to his locker and sighed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Renji, who also noticed him nodded and cast Ichigo a worried look. "See you then." He murmured, walking away to leave Ichigo to slowly make his way over to Grimmjow.

"Hey, you ok?" Grimmjow frowned at Ichigo's drawn expression and pushed away from the lockers to grasp his arm gently. "Ichigo?"

Ichigo looked up at him slowly before smiling. "I love you."

He frowned in confusion, never getting to ask what was wrong as Ichigo dropped his bag and wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him down into a kiss. He pulled away gently, frowning at Ichigo.

"What was that for?"

"Nothing." Ichigo smiled softly and grabbed his bag before glancing around and taking his hand, pulling him further into the school. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"Somewhere private."

"Why?" Ichigo turned to give him a look and he snorted. "Oh."

...

"So you gunna tell me why I was dragged into this cupboard for you to jump me?" Grimmjow asked, redoing his belt whilst looking at Ichigo expectantly who was currently buttoning his shirt up again.

Ichigo sighed and looked down at his hands. "I thought that if I had a choice, I would choose not to love you. For none of this to have happened."

Grimmjow stiffened, looking at Ichigo in surprise, both surprised by the statement and how much it hurt to hear him say it. "Oh." Clearing his throat, Grimmjow stepped out of the cupboard to pull his shirt on, suddenly feeling claustrophobic in the confined space with Ichigo.

"No, Grimmjow you don't understand." Ichigo grabbed his arm, forcing him to turn around and face him. "That's what I thought. Then I saw you waiting for me, it made me realise that I wouldn't change anything." He touched Grimmjow's chest and smiled softly when he felt his heartbeat under his fingertips. "I love you and I would never change that, ever."

"Ichigo..." Grimmjow paused and shook his head before catching Ichigo's hand and kissing his fingers. "Don't say shit like that again."

"Like what?"

"That you would choose not to love me if you had a choice. I don't want to force you into anything understand. If you feel like that, you gotta tell me."

Ichigo smiled reassuringly and kissed him. "I don't, trust me. It was a moment of doubt after talking with my friends, nothing else. I don't feel like that. I won't ever want to change what's happened between us."

"Good." Grimmjow finished his shirt and threw his blazer on before holding out his hand for Ichigo to take. "Ready to go home?"

Ichigo grinned and nodded, placing his hand in Grimmjow's. "Let's go home."


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

When they got back, Ichigo opened the front door and grinned at Grimmjow before pulling him inside. "I bet we've got half an hour tops to ourselves. Dad will be finishing off in the clinic and the twins aren't home yet."

"Yeah? What you wanna do?" Grimmjow pulled Ichigo closer and the younger teen smiled innocently, playing with the button on his shirt.

Standing on his tiptoes, Ichigo leant forward to whisper in Grimmjow's ear. "Anything you want."

"That sounds like fun."

"I thought you might agree." Ichigo pulled away to grab his hand and started leading him up the stairs, pausing when he glanced at the living room to see someone stood watching them. "Nelliel?"

Grimmjow stopped and frowned, turning to see it was indeed Nel and groaned. "What are you doing here? How did you get in? And how did you know I was here?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, surprised by the barrage of questions. "One, I needed to talk to you. Two, Ichigo's dad let me in, he's really nice by the way." She grinned at Ichigo before continuing. "Three, I searched Kurosaki and it came up with Kurosaki Clinic. How many Kurosaki's are there in Karakura?"

"Ok, ok." Grimmjow let go of Ichigo's hand to walk over to her and smiled, pulling her into a hug. "Nice to see you too Nel. So why'd you need to talk to me?"

"We need to talk."

"So talk."

She glanced at Ichigo before looking at him meaningfully. "It's private."

Grimmjow looked at Ichigo, who shrugged. "Fine by me, I'll be upstairs when you're done. Nice to see you Nel."

"You too." She waited until he'd gone before sighing heavily and shaking her head. "Mum and dad have been staying with me."

"Yeah? What they been saying?" Grimmjow sat down, patting the seat next to him and Nel sat down, looking down at her lap.

"They're taking you back to Germany."

Grimmjow stiffened, his eyes narrowing in annoyance. "Yeah, but I'm not going. They can't make me."

"You're seventeen Grimmjow, you're still technically under their care."

"Bullshit." He scowled and leaned back, folding his arms. "They can't force me to leave."

"But they can ruin Ichigo's life." She watched as he stiffened and shook her head. "They can ruin this Clinic. Do you really think Ichigo will love you for that?" She leant forward, whispering the last words quietly. "Please Grimmjow, just go, even if it's only a few months until your birthday. Don't make this harder than it already is."

Grimmjow groaned and lent forward, holding his head in his hands. "Fuck." He sighed deeply, rubbing his head. "I don't want to leave him Nel." Looking up at her, he shook his head. "If I leave until my birthday, that's still six months. Do you really think he'll wait for me?"

"Of course he will. If Ichigo loves you, he'll wait." Nel stood up, patting his back before looking at her watch. "I gotta go, mum wants to take me out for dinner."

"Oh lucky you, at least they like you."

"They love you Grimmjow, they just don't understand your choices. They think you do it to spite them, that's what they think Ichigo is. They don't understand you love him, you've gotta prove it to them." Touching his cheek, she smiled at him. "See you soon."

"Yeah." Grimmjow got up to let her out, squeezing her hand as she left. Closing the door, he banged his head on it, groaning loudly. "Fuck, fuck, fuck..."

"Is everything ok?" He lifted his head and turned to see Ichigo at the bottom of the stairs, pulling on his sleeve and eyeing him nervously. "I heard Nel leave so came down. Are you ok?" Grimmjow looked at him, unable to respond for a few minutes, in which time Ichigo became increasingly nervous. "Grimm?"

"Ichigo..." Grimmjow stopped and sighed, shaking his head. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Ichigo looked down and tugged on his sleeve, biting his lip. "What's going on?"

Grimmjow's expression softened at the vulnerable picture Ichigo was painting and walked over to him, gently lifting his head. "I have to go."

"Go where?"

"Germany."

Ichigo stiffened, his eyes widening in surprise and he grabbed Grimmjow's arm. "Don't go. Please don't go."

"I don't have a choice. I'm legally under my parents care still, so I have to." He smiled reassuringly, tapping the end of Ichigo's nose. "Six months tops, only 'till I'm eighteen."

Ichigo shook his head, closing his eyes and pressing his head to Grimmjow's chest. "I don't want you to go."

"I don't want to either. But if I stay, my parents will destroy this." Grimmjow waved an arm to include the house. "They'll get your father's clinic shut down and then what? How will you be able to stay here? How could you love me after that?"

"I'll always love you. No matter what happens."

"I know, which is why I can leave and come back. Because I know you'll wait for me, right?"

Ichigo nodded without hesitation. "Of course."

Grimmjow smiled at him, leaning down to kiss him briefly. "I'll come back. Besides, I'm not going yet. I'm not leaving until I absolutely have to."

"Mmm..." Ichigo chewed on his lip for a moment before smiling and kissing him. "You're not going anywhere just yet."

"Yeah? What you gunna do to stop me?"

"Lock you up." Ichigo grinned and kissed him again. "Refuse to let you go."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Grimmjow smirked at him, wrapping his arm around Ichigo's waist to pull him closer. "You can do whatever you want with me."

"Now that sounds interesting." Ichigo wrapped his arms around Grimmjow's neck, his eyes half closing as he smiled softly and lent closer to brush their lips together. "Maybe I'll just have to do that." He pulled away when the door opened, smiling when his sisters came in. "Hey guys."

Karin took one look at them and snorted, dropped her bag on the floor to take of her coat. "Sorry for interrupting your fun."

“No it’s fine, we weren’t doing anything.” Ichigo grinned at Grimmjow and held out his hand. “Coming upstairs?”

“Sure.” Grimmjow took the offered hand a waved to the twins as Ichigo led him upstairs and Karin wrinkled her nose.

“Nice Ichigo, take it upstairs please, and try to be quiet. I don’t want to be throwing up tonight.”

“Shut up! We’re not going to be doing anything like that, get your head out of the gutter!” Ichigo yelled back, his cheeks starting to turn red in embarrassment. “I’ve got homework and so does Grimmjow so that’s why, so we can concentrate without your annoying ass around.”

“Love you too.”

Yuzu smiled to herself before butting in their banter. “Dinner will be ready in an hour Ichi-nii!”

“Cool, we’ll be down then!” Ichigo looked at Grimmjow, raising an eyebrow when he saw the man was looking at him amusedly. “What?”

“You and your sisters.”

“What about it?”

Grimmjow shrugged as they entered his bedroom and lent against the desk whilst Ichigo pulled his work from his bag. “I dunno, I guess it’s nice to see you act like a family. Even if you seem to hate each other half the time.”

Ichigo paused and looked at him with a frown. “What do you mean? Of course we act like a family, we are one. Weren’t you like that with Nel?”

“Nah, she was ten when I was born so we never were that close until I grew up a bit, after she left home. It’s only recently we’ve been getting closer.” He sighed and shook his head. “My parents never really treated me like a son, it was always about Nel and when she left, it was like half the time I didn’t exist. Hell I wasn’t even planned; I was an accident so why would they like me?”

“Don’t say that.”

“Why not? It’s true isn’t it? You’ve seen the way they are with me. They hate any choice I make and try to force me into things I can’t and won’t do. They’re trying to mould me into this perfect image of themselves and I refuse to be that. One of the other reasons they don’t love me.”

Ichigo dropped his books and walked over to Grimmjow, punching him on the arm roughly. “Don’t say shit like that.”

“Jeeze, what the hell was that for?” Grimmjow frowned at him, rubbing the red spot in confusion. “You asked.”

“No I didn’t, you just started talking.” Ichigo sighed and touched his arm gently with a frown. “Of course they love you, you’re their son. I know they don’t show it but of course they do. Why else would they let you live in Japan whilst they’re in Germany?” He paused before looking up at Grimmjow with a smile. “Even if I’m completely wrong and they don’t love you, I do and I always will. You can always rely on me, no matter what.”

Grimmjow looked into his eyes searchingly for a moment before smiling softly. “Thank you.”

“Any time.” Ichigo smiled back, turning to pick up his books again. “I know it’s not easy, I saw what it was like for you. But you’ve gotta take the good with the bad I suppose.”

“Yeah? So what’s the good?”

“Anything I suppose, what makes you happy, Nel?”

Grimmjow thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. “Nah, she doesn’t make me happy, she’s a pain in the ass most of the time.”

Ichigo rolled his eyes before shrugging. “Then whatever makes you happy, that’s the good.”

“Can it be you?”

He paused, glancing at Grimmjow to see he was looking at him with a frown and blushed. “Uh, I guess so, if you want me to be.”

“Then you’re the good.” Grimmjow pulled him closer and kissed him softly. “You make me happy, more than anything else.”

Ichigo grinned, leaning forward to kiss him again, dropping his books on the desk so he could wrap his arms around Grimmjow’s neck. “Mmm, I love you.”

Grimmjow laughed, swiftly picking Ichigo up to get him on the bed and knelt over him to kiss him again. “Love you too Ichi.”

Ichigo threaded his fingers through Grimmjow’s hair, pulling him down into a heated kiss, neither of them noticing as the door opened and Karin walked in, she stopped when she saw them and turned away, covering her eyes in horror.

“Ah jeeze, I thought you said you were doing homework?!”

Ichigo pulled away to look at her in shock as Grimmjow started laughing, attempting to muffle it by pressing his head to Ichigo’s chest. “We are… were! I mean we will be in a moment!”

“Yeah, sure you are.” She slowly turned to look at them, sighing in relief when Grimmjow sat up to put an appropriate distance between them. “Am I going to walking in on this a lot?”

“Probably, for as long as I’m here, I shall make it my solemn duty to make sure you walk in on me and Ichigo making out as many times as possible.” Grimmjow said it in all seriousness, his face straight and placed a hand over his heart.

Ichigo snorted, almost believing him. “Whatever you say Grimm.” Shaking his head, he looked at Karin again. “Ignore him, I promise to keep it to a minimum, okay?”

“Yeah sure.”

“What did you want anyway?”

“Yuzu sent me up, says she needs help and I’m busy.” Karin turned to leave, calling over her shoulder as she reached the door. “Have fun cooking!”

Ichigo scowled and folded his arms with a huff. “Busy my ass, she hates cooking as much as me.”

Grimmjow grinned and shifted closer to him, turning his head so he could kiss him again. “It can’t be that bad can it?”

“Trust me, with Yuzu it is. If it’s not perfect and exactly how she wants it, you better start again.”

“Why, does she get mad?”

Ichigo sighed and shook his head. “No, she puts the puppy dog eyes on, saying it isn’t how she thought it would be. Bloody guilt trips me all the time.”

“Well, looks like we’ve got no choice.”

Ichigo frowned, watching as Grimmjow got up and stretched. “We’ve?”

“Sure, I’ll help you out. I may not know much, but I’m a quick learner and I’ll get the hang of it quickly. Don’t worry, if something goes wrong, just blame me.”

“I do that anyway.” Ichigo stood up, grinning at Grimmjow before kissing him quickly. “Come on then, you’ll regret volunteering yourself within ten minutes.” Ichigo grabbed his hand and pulled him out of his room, laughing at the slightly worried expression on Grimmjow’s face. “You asked for it.”


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

It had been a week since Grimmjow had told Ichigo he would have to go back to Germany and he hadn't been forced to leave yet. Something he was grateful for and definitely wasn't looking forward to the day he had to leave. What he didn't realise was, that day was fast closing in.

"Ichigo! Wake up and get up before you're late for school!" Isshin opened his son's door with a bang, pausing when he saw he wasn't alone in bed. "And Grimmjow!"

Grimmjow muttered something unintelligible, something Ichigo assumed was an insult, and pressed his head to Ichigo's back with a heavy sigh. After the first few days of Isshin always finding them together in the morning, either on the sofa or in Ichigo's room, he gave up trying to keep them separated.

Ichigo sat up and stretched before looking at his father. "What time is it?"

"Half seven, don't be late!"

Isshin left the room and Ichigo groaned, curling up next to Grimmjow again. "We don't have to get up for at least another half hour."

Grimmjow sighed, running his fingers down Ichigo's spine and grinned when the orange head shivered. "Yeah, stay in bed with me then. That sounds like a better use of time than getting ready."

"Mad dash to get ready to leave then?"

"Yup."

Ichigo grinned, resting on one elbow to lean closer to kiss him. "Mmm, I'd much rather stay in bed all day."

"Me too." Grimmjow wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him onto his stomach. "But we've got school."

"Screw school."

He snorted, tapping Ichigo's nose with a grin. "Well, well. I think I'm a bad influence on you, you're becoming a delinquent."

Ichigo pouted, leaning closer to kiss him again. "I've always been a delinquent. How many times have we been busted for fighting?"

"Yeah, but the last time wasn't for fighting, was it?"

Ichigo blushed and ducked his head, remembering when they were caught doing some real heavy making out in a spare classroom during lunch break. "That was your fucking fault, you dragged me into that room."

"I couldn't help it." Grimmjow said, all too innocently to be believed. "You looked too damn sexy."

Ichigo looking at him amusedly. "Really? What in particular about me in my uniform was sexy? I look the same every day."

"I dunno, but whatever it was, I couldn't help myself." Grimmjow lifted Ichigo's chin slightly and smiled softly at him. "I can't help myself around you."

Ichigo grinned, running his hand down Grimmjow's chest to rest on his stomach. "You make me sound like I'm some sort of drug."

"You are a drug." Grimmjow stated it simply, grinning at Ichigo. "You're my drug and I'm addicted for life."

Cupping Ichigo's face, he kissed him again and Ichigo groaned, pressing their bodies closer together. When Grimmjow felt something hard press against his stomach, he grinned and pulled away to see Ichigo's face was flushed.

"We've gotta get ready for school." He slid Ichigo off him and stood up to stretch. He walked to the door, turning to see Ichigo watching him with a confused frown. "What's wrong?"

Ichigo looked down and pulled on the sheets. "You turn me on, and then leave me?"

"I'm going to have a shower, you can join me you know."

Ichigo looked up at him and grinned, off the bed in a heartbeat to go to Grimmjow's side. "That is an offer I can't refuse."

Grimmjow smiled, slinging an arm around Ichigo's shoulders before leading him out of the room. "Like I said, can't help myself and neither can you."

Ichigo looked up at him and snorted. "We make a right pair don't we."

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

...

They got to school in time for the first bell, barely. Ichigo said goodbye to Grimmjow, giving him a quick kiss before running off to his class. As he opened the door, the second bell rang and he sighed in relief, slipping to the back to sink into his seat, ignoring Renji's smirk.

After the teacher had started the lesson, turning her back on them, Renji lent across the table to whisper to him. "Hey Ichigo."

"What?"

"You were late." He grinned and made an obscene gesture with his hands. "You and Grimmjow huh?"

"Shut up!" Ichigo whispered back furiously, a blush spreading across his cheeks. "We didn't have sex you idiot!" He was being truthful, they almost did, but the thought of his dad walking in on them having sex in the shower was too much to bear.

"So what did you do? You're blushing so something obviously happened."

"None of your damn business." Ichigo returned to sitting upright in his seat, ignoring the way Renji grinned knowingly at him and attempted to focus on the lesson.

…

When the school day was finally over, Ichigo sighed in relief as the final bell rang. He gave Renji a warning look as he caught up with him outside the classroom and opened his mouth to speak, stopping when he saw Ichigo's expression.

"What?"

"If your sentence involves the word 'Grimmjow', I will kill you."

"Why? Getting tired of him already?"

Ichigo snorted, stepping to the side as a group of girls ran past them giggling. "No I'm tired of you talking about him. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have a crush on him."

Renji just grinned amusedly at I'm. "Yeah right, definitely not my type. Besides, in case you've forgotten, me and Rukia are still going solid."

"Amazingly." Ichigo shook his head in disbelief. "How long's it been? Two years now aint it?"

"More or less, I'll know when she gets pissy about me forgetting our anniversary again." Renji shrugged, seemingly unbothered by that fact. "What about you two then? How the hell is that even working?"

"No idea, I don't dwell on it much." Ichigo sighed, shaking his head. "Somehow it works and I'm fine with that. I don't particularly need to know until it doesn't work anymore."

"Uh, Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't punch me or anything for saying this. But Grimmjow looks pissed off."

Ichigo frowned and looked in the direction Renji pointed to see Grimmjow was outside waiting and did in fact, look severely pissed off. "Why would I punch you?"

"For saying his name."

He rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "See you later Renji, I better go find out what's wrong."

"Good luck!"

He left Renji at the school doors, going down slowly to Grimmjow, stopped when he reached him. "So what's up? You look like you're gunna kill someone."

Grimmjow looked down at him, some of the anger leaving his expression and he sighed heavily. "My parents un-enrolled me from school."

Ichigo opened his mouth to say something, but couldn't come up with anything so sighed, nudging Grimmjow's arm. "C'mon, let's go home." When Grimmjow didn't move, he frowned and pulled on his arm. "Grimmjow?" The man blinked and looked down at him with an unreadable expression. "What?"

"I think I'm gunna have to go." Ichigo stiffened and gripped his arm tightly. "Hey, c'mon we both knew it was gunna happen eventually." He sighed, rubbing Ichigo's arm. "Let's go then, we can talk at home."

Ichigo nodded wordlessly, following him down the path, not having much of a choice since Grimmjow was still holding his arm. They walked in silence back to the clinic, Grimmjow still holding on to him as they went inside and up to Ichigo's room.

"Grimmjow?"

He turned to look at Ichigo, noting the way he was looking at the ground and his shoulders slumped. "Yeah?"

"Do you really have to go?" Ichigo looked up at him, gripping the front of his shirt tightly. "You don't have to, just stay."

"C'mon Ichi, you know just as well as I do I gotta go. I'm not enrolled at school anymore so what am I going to do? I need my parents to enlist me somewhere. That somewhere's definitely in Germany."

"But-"

Grimmjow pressed a finger to Ichigo's lips to stop him arguing. "Don't make this harder than it is, please." Ichigo nodded and Grimmjow sighed, removing his finger to pull out his phone and call Nelliel. "Hey Nel."

"Grimmjow?" She asked, sounding genuinely surprised. "What is it?"

"Are they still staying with you?"

"If you mean mum and dad, then yeah, why?" She murmured something, presumably to whoever was with her. "They're leaving tomorrow."

Grimmjow sighed and rubbed his forehead, glancing at Ichigo to give him a sad smile. "I'm going back with them."

"Oh... Ok?" She said something again, holding her hand over the mic so Grimmjow couldn't hear. "Yeah, they said they'll pick you up in the morning. Where are you?"

"Ichigo's obviously."

She laughed before replying. "Ok, I'll give them the address, talk to you soon."

"See ya." He ended the call and put the phone on the table before sighing and heavily and turning around to face Ichigo. "That's it. They're picking me up tomorrow and we're going."

Ichigo nodded before moving forward into his arms, wrapping his arms around his waist tightly. "Six months."

"Promise, when I'm eighteen, I'll come back."

"Yeah you better. Or I will come to Germany and find you, just to kick your ass."

Grimmjow chuckled, running his hand through Ichigo's hair. "Good luck with that, Germany's a big place."

"I'll find a way."

"Don't stress Ichigo, I'll come back." He lent down, kissing Ichigo firmly, tightening his grip on his lithe frame. "Now c'mon, stop thinking about it. I wanna spend tonight with you and enjoy it, not spend it worrying. Ok?"

"Mmm, ok." Ichigo smiled, standing on his tiptoes to kiss him again. "I think I can agree with that."

"Good." Grimmjow grinned when Ichigo's fingers threading in his hair and raised an eyebrow at him. "So what you wanna do?"

Ichigo grinned back and rolled his eyes. "I think you already know the answer to that."

"And your dad?"

Ichigo grinned slyly and moved out of his arms to go to the door and poked his head out for a moment. With a satisfied nod he shut the door again and locked it before turning to look at Grimmjow.

"Hey, I don't see a problem as long as we're quiet. I doubt he'd notice. He's got his hands full with the clinic." Pushing away from the door, he pulled Grimmjow onto the bed and grinned. "Besides I want to enjoy what time we have left. He'll understand."

"Hey, your funeral if he finds out."

"And yours."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes before starting to unbutton Ichigo's shirt. "Maybe that's the way to keep me here huh?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Ichigo sat up and pulled his shirt off before pausing and looking at Grimmjow with a frown.

"What?"

"You gunna let me top now?"

Grimmjow snorted and pushed him back on the bed, kissing him forcefully. "No."

Ichigo sighed dramatically. "Worth a shot. You're such a wimp."

"Hey, I'm not. Just because I won't let you fuck me don't make me a wimp."

"Whatever you say." Ichigo grinned at Grimmjow's frown and kissed him again. "Stop frowning and have sex with me already."

Grimmjow's frown disappeared and he grinned again. "Sounds good to me."

...

"Karin!" Yuzu called her name as she set plates on the table, smiling when she came in.

"Yeah?"

"Can you go get Ichi-nii and Grimmjow, dinner's ready."

"Sure." Karin sighed and headed upstairs to Ichigo's room. She went to open the door, frowning when discovering it was locked. She knocked on the door, raising an eyebrow when she heard something go with a loud thud in the room. "Whatever you two are doing you better stop. Dinner's ready and Yuzu wants you downstairs."

She waited a moment and the door was unlocked, Ichigo half opening the door to look at her. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Karin appraised his flushed face and half naked form. "Dinner's ready. Next time you two decide to do it, try to pick a better time. And try to remember which trousers are yours."

She eyed the garment which was obviously too big for Ichigo for a moment before leaving with a smirk as Ichigo's mouth opened in shock and he spluttered something in denial, his face going red. "Yeah, we'll be down in a minute!" He eventually called, slamming the door shut and groaning.

"So what did she want?"

He looked up to see Grimmjow hadn't moved an inch from the bed and rolled his eyes before going to sit next to him. "Dinner's ready, so get up and get changed."

"Aww c'mon, five more minutes." Grabbing Ichigo's arm, he pulled the teen back onto the bed and kissed him again, swiftly removing his trousers.

Ichigo pushed him away and shook his head. "Really? We just had sex and you wanna go again?"

He shrugged and smirked at Ichigo. "I can't help it and besides, I'm making up for lost time."

"Mmm." Ichigo kissed him again before standing up, careful to put on his own clothes this time. "C'mon, I'm hungry, we can have sex later."

"Really?" Grimmjow grinned and got changed, pulling Ichigo into his arms to kiss him again. "You're actually agreeing to that?"

"Yeah, I am." Ichigo rolled his eyes and smiled. "Now c'mon before Yuzu gets impatient or Karin says something."

"Gotcha." He followed Ichigo downstairs and sat down next to him, shooting Karin a smile when she snorted and looked at him knowingly. Ichigo blushed heavily when seeing the exchange, kicking Grimmjow under the table and giving him a warning look.

Thankfully for him, the rest of dinner went without being kicked, something he was grateful for since Ichigo had a mean right foot. Unfortunately though, both him and Ichigo got roped into helping Isshin clean the clinic up.

By the time they were through, he was too exhausted to even think about sex, and by the looks of Ichigo he was too when he fell on the bed and fell asleep instantly. Grimmjow sighed and crawled in next to him, throwing the covers over them both before falling asleep as well.

The next morning, he was rudely awoken when Ichigo punched his chest roughly, making him fall off the bed. "What the hell was that for?!" Grimmjow yelled, glaring at him from the floor.

Ichigo huffed and folded his arms, refusing to look at him. "For letting me fall asleep, then doing it yourself!"

"What?" He asked, bewildered by his strange behaviour. "You were completely out of it and I was exhausted. Why the hell would I have woken you up?!"

"Because I wanted to stay awake with you!" Ichigo yelled back, finally looking at him and Grimmjow could see his eyes were shining with tears. "I didn't want to fall asleep so early." He whispered, looking down at the covers and fisting them in his hands. "Because you're going to leave, and we slept through what few hours we had left."

Grimmjow sighed and picked himself up off the floor and slid in the bed next to Ichigo, pulling him onto his lap. "C'mon, we still have a few hours. I doubt they'll be here this early." Grabbing his phone from the side, he saw he had a text from Nel. "There you go, they're coming at eleven and it's only seven, that's four hours still."

Ichigo nodded into his shoulder, trailing his fingers over Grimmjow's back with a sigh. "Please don't go."

"We've been through this Ichi..."

"But-"

Grimmjow cupped his face and kissed him before he could protest further. "Stop. You have no idea how much it's killing me to leave. I have to, please don't make it any harder."

Ichigo nodded, kissing him again and pressing their bodies as close as possible together. "Grimm I need you to do something for me."

"Yeah?"

"Make love to me, please."

"That all? I can do that any time for you." Grimmjow smiled when Ichigo punched his arm gently. "Yeah, I can do that."

He did as asked, taking his time and making it last as long as possible since they would be able to do this again for several months. But it wasn't only for Ichigo, as much as he needed it, Grimmjow needed it to. Ichigo refused to let go of him, even afterwards and Grimmjow chuckled, kissing him again.

"C'mon Ichigo let go, I need to lie down."

Ichigo let him lie down before moving to curl up on his chest and look at him sadly. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Ichigo smiled, satisfied for the moment and laid down, lapsing into silence for a while. Grimmjow glanced at his watch and groaned when he saw it was ten, slowly sliding Ichigo off him, rousing the half asleep man in the process.

"What's going on?" He mumbled, watching in confusion as Grimmjow changed and grabbed his bag to start throwing things into it.

"I've gotta pack."

"Oh."

Grimmjow paused and turned to look at him, seeing he was watching him quietly through sad eyes again. He opened his mouth to say something, but unable to find the words he sighed heavily and returned to packing. Neither of them spoke until Grimmjow was done, when he turned back to see Ichigo hadn't moved at all and frowned.

He walked over to Ichigo and crouched in front on him, smiling softly when his tears spilled over onto his cheeks and brushed one away. "Six months, then I'll be back and I promise, I'll never leave you again."

Ichigo shook his head and closed his eyes, refusing to answer. Grimmjow frowned, slowly stroking his cheek before finally coming up with a solution. Even to himself it sounded absolutely crazy, but it was crazy enough that it might just work.

"Marry me."

Ichigo's eyes snapped open at the words and he stared at Grimmjow with a mixture of shock and confusion, sitting up quickly. "W-what?"

Grimmjow sighed and looked at him imploringly, leaning across the bed. "Marry me Ichigo. If that's what it takes to make you believe I'll come back then yeah, I'll propose to you. I don't want you moping about because I'm gone. At least this can give you reassurance I will come back. I know we're only seventeen but that doesn't change how I feel about you. I'm in love with you Ichigo, and I want to marry you."

Ichigo looked at him with an unreadable expression, pulling the bed covers up to his chin. For a moment, when he didn't reply, Grimmjow honestly believed Ichigo would say no. He sighed in relief when Ichigo grinned and launched himself at him, making both of them tumble to the floor.

Ichigo cupped his face, kissing him earnestly, his grin almost threatening to split his face in two. Grimmjow chuckled and pulled away to wipe his other cheek of tears and raised an eyebrow. "So is that a yes?"

Ichigo nodded and kissed him again. "Of course it's a yes."

"Good, you had me worried there for a minute." Grimmjow sighed and ran his fingers over Ichigo's hand. "You're gunna have to wait for a ring until I get back thought."

"I can live with that. It's the gesture that counts." Ichigo played with edge of his collar, his smile never wavering. "I love you."

"I love you too Ichi. Now c'mon, let me get up, my butt's going numb here."

Ichigo stood up, wrapping his arms around Grimmjow's neck and kissing him again when he got up. Grimmjow smiled against his mouth, leading him back onto the bed before glancing at his watch. "Forty minutes, think that's enough time?"

Ichigo nodded, biting his lip to try and contain his grin. "Yeah, I think so."

...

Grimmjow groaned when his phone rang, casting Ichigo an apologetic look before grabbing it. "Hello?" He almost yelled out when Ichigo flipped their positions, grinning when Ichigo took over.

"Grimmjow?"

"Uh, hey Nel." He had to bit his lip to stop himself moaning down the phone when Ichigo started nibbling his neck, somewhere he knew Grimmjow was sensitive. "What's up?"

"We're outside, you ready to go?"

"Uh no, not yet. Give me another ten minutes." Ichigo grinned at him, leaning down to kiss him hard enough that Nel's next words were almost a miss on him.

"You better hurry, I don't think they'll wait much longer."

"Got it, see you soon." Ending the call, he threw the phone across the room and grabbed Ichigo's hips, flipping their positions again. "You fucking bastard."

Ichigo smiled coyly. "What? You were enjoying it.""Mmm." Grimmjow kissed him again. "We got ten minutes."

"Gotcha."

...

Ichigo grinned as Grimmjow cursed, undoing his buttons when finding they were done up wrong. "Calm down, we were only an extra fifteen minutes."

"Yeah I know, but I said ten." Finishing the shirt, he threw a jacket on and kissed him, his lips lingering over Ichigo's. "I'll see you soon."

Ichigo sighed, grabbing his shirt to pull him into another kiss. "Don't you dare keep me waiting more than six months."

"I won't, I promise." He kissed Ichigo one last time before grabbing his bag, turning to smile at him. "See you soon."

"Yeah."

Ichigo watched him leave the room and his smile faltered. Sighing heavily, he lent out the window, waving when Grimmjow turned to wave at him and watched the car leave the street. He curled up in his bed and closed his eyes, deciding he wasn't going in to school today, hell he was already three hours late so what was the point.

"Six months..."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

Four months in and Ichigo thought he was doing pretty well. So far he hadn't had a mental breakdown and was managing to get through his school work at a pretty decent level. Unfortunately for him, exam season was drawing closer and with each day, his work load got higher and higher.

At the end of yet another busy day and several pieces of homework later, Ichigo sighed in relief when the final bell rang. Shoving everything into his bag, he paused and glanced up to see Renji grinning at him.

"What?" He asked warily, not at all comforted by Renji's expression.

"No staying up late tonight revising my friend!" Renji slung an arm over Ichigo's shoulders, pulling him from the room. "We are having a party to celebrate the fact we are still alive."

"Not interested."

Renji snorted, casting him a sly glance. "You need to unwind, seriously. Ever since Grimmjow left you've been so depressed it's like a cold draught every time you walk in the room." He sighed when Ichigo stiffened at the mention of his name. "See? You need cheering up, desperately."

Ichigo sighed heavily, shrugging his arm off. "I don't care, I'm fine."

"And I don't believe you." Renji pulled him back when he went to walk away. "So you're coming, whether you want to or not."

"Oh yeah? How are you going to make me. I'm stronger than you."

"Yeah, but I'm not alone."

Ichigo gulped at the smug look, pulling his arm free "I'm not going." He jumped when his arms where grabbed, turning to see Rukia and Tatsuki on either side of him, grinning. "No way in hell!"

"Aww Ichigo, relax for a bit. Even you will have a meltdown if you don't take a break soon." Rukia chided him.

"She's right you know." Tatsuki continued as they steered him outside, Renji following behind with a grin. "Come get drunk with us, you'll feel better after letting it out."

"Somehow I don't think a killer hangover will make me feel better." Ichigo dragged his feet, pulling them to a stop and glared at them both. "I'm not coming."

"You don't have a choice." Renji put in, shoving on his back and making him tumble forward before he being dragged again. Renji grinning and waved as Ichigo glared at him. "See you in a bit!"

"Renji you bastard, you're gunna pay for this!"

...

So three hours later Ichigo could be found sat on Renji's sofa with a beer in one hand and his phone in the other, looking severely pissed off. If looks could kill, Renji sure as hell wouldn't be making his way over to the fuming teen and sitting next to him with a grin.

"How's it going?"

"It aint. I fucking hate you, this is shit." Ichigo shoved his phone back in his pocket and finished the beer, throwing the can at Renji's head. "I can't believe you actually got me here."

"Like I said, lighten up a bit. You'll kill yourself if you keep going the way you are." Renji rubbed his head and sighed, leaning closer so Ichigo could hear him over the loud music. "I know you're missing him but c'mon, it's only for another two months."

Ichigo snorted, grabbing another beer from the table. "You say that, but there are no guarantees he will come back."

"You seriously believe that?" He snorted when Ichigo shrugged, diving onto him to grab his phone. "Would he bother talking to you nearly every waking second then?"

"Hey, give it back!"

Renji jumped up, eyeing the phone when it buzzed to see Grimmjow's name flash across the screen. "Even now you're still texting him and you seriously believe he won't come back?"

Ichigo stood up and glared at him. "Give me the phone Renji."

"And if I don't?"

Renji shrugged before dialling his number and tossing the phone back. "Talk to him. Not once have I seen you actually speak to him dumbass. You want the truth, ask him and get over this depression. This aint you and I don't like it, I miss my friend."

"Renji..." Ichigo watched him go before looking down at his phone, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw Renji had called Grimmjow. "Fucking idiot, there's a reason I don't talk to him."

Ending the call before Grimmjow answered, Ichigo sank back into the sofa and groaned. Eyeing his beer, Ichigo turned his phone off and grabbed it to finish it off and closed his eyes, leaning back.

_I can't just call him. Even hearing his voice will make this worse, I can barely stand it now, let alone if we talk. It'll drive me crazy. It's like having an invisible barrier between us. I can see him and I could hear him, but I can't touch him. That would be too much, I know it._

"Not tonight..."

"Not tonight what?" He jumped, opening his eyes to see Tatsuki and sighed. "Gunna answer the question?"

"Not now, leave me alone."

She sighed, grabbing them both a drink and tossed Ichigo one. "Grimmjow huh?" She nodded when Ichigo flinched and shook her head. "Told you, you would've been better off with Orihime."

"Yeah well, I'm gay so it wouldn't work."

"Would if you were straight." She grinned when Ichigo scowled at her. "Don't worry about it. Besides, she's busy getting it on with that Ulquiorra in the kitchen."

Ichigo spat out his mouthful, looking at her in surprise. "What?"

"Didn't you know? They've been dating for a while now. Guess she was feeling brave, things were getting heated so I thought I'd join your sorry ass." She leant forward, touching his arm gently. "What's up?"

Ichigo snorted and lent back, choosing not to reply and they sat in silence for a while. "Did I tell you he asked me to marry him?" He asked eventually, making Tatsuki look at him in surprise.

"No, jeeze Ichigo, way to keep a secret."

Ichigo shook his head and put the drink down, pulling out his phone again. "Yeah, he did, just before he left. Promised he'd get me a ring and everything when he came back." He continued when she didn't answer. "I said yes." He groaned, leaning forward to rub his face. "Thing is I don't know if he'll come back."

"What makes you think that?"

"I don't know, just a bad feeling." She snorted, punching his arm roughly. "What was that for?!" He asked, turning to look at her and rub the spot.

"Call him."

"No."

"Ichigo I swear to god you better call him or I'll beat the shit outta you! Get this into your head, he's coming back." She stood up, flashing him a glare. "You better talk to him or you will lose him and you'll have no-one to blame but yourself."

Ichigo watched her go and sighed, looking down at his phone again. "Fucking hell, I can't believe I'm doing this." He grumbled, getting up to go outside where it was quieter. Leaning against the wall, he let the cool air clear his head before calling Grimmjow before he could regret it.

"Hello?"

He frowned when a woman answered. "Uh, hi. Who's this?"

"Tier."

"Who?"

"Shouldn't I ask you that? After all you called."

"I'm Ichigo, where's Grimmjow? And who are you?"

She sighed and Ichigo could tell she was getting impatient with the questions. "I'm his girlfriend ok?" She said, her voice becoming harsher instantly.

Ichigo stiffened, his mind going blank. "H-his what?"

"You heard, so what do you want?"

"I-"

"Yes?"

Ichigo couldn't find anything to say, sliding down the wall, he clutched the phone to his ear. "Put him on."

"What?"

"Give the phone to Grimmjow!"

"Alright, no need to shout. I didn't do anything."

Ichigo heard her walk away and sighed heavily, closing his eyes. _Girlfriend? He's dating someone, a woman? Why didn't he tell me? Why bother talking to me at all? He won't come back, I know it. I knew something was wrong, I knew he wouldn't come back._

"Hello?"

Ichigo stiffened when Grimmjow answered, dropping his phone in shock. He scrambled to pick it up, pressing it to his ear again. "Grimmjow?" He whispered, gripping the phone tightly to stop his hand shaking.

"Ichigo?" He was surprised, Ichigo guessed the woman, Tier, didn't tell him who it was. "Ichigo is that really you?"

"Yeah."

"Seriously?" Grimmjow laughed, making Ichigo flinch as his heart jolted slightly. "Man it's really good to hear your voice. Why haven't you called before? I know you didn't want me to so I was hoping you would. What's up?"

Ichigo scowled, letting anger flood his system to numb the pain. "What's up?" He asked harshly. "Why don't you tell me? Since you have a damn girlfriend!"

The line went quiet for a moment, Ichigo imagining Grimmjow was trying to think of an excuse, not that he was going to listen. "What?" He finally responded, making him growl in anger.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me?! Don't you think I had a right to know, or do I mean that little to you?!" Ichigo snorted, starting again before Grimmjow could respond. "You're a fucking bastard Grimmjow Jaeggerjaques and I wish I never met you. Don't you dare come back here. I don't ever want to see your face again!"

"You don't mean that." He paused, sighing heavily. "Ichigo I don't know what you're going on about, or what you think's going on, but I don't-"

"So you're going to lie to me?" Ichigo cut him off, standing up and balling his hand into a fist. "Do you really think I'm stupid enough to believe whatever you say?"

"I love you."

Ichigo laughed bitterly, shaking his head even though Grimmjow couldn't see him. "Liar." He ended the call, almost throwing his phone but thought better of it and jammed it into his pocket. Pushing his way back inside, Ichigo made his way to the door, he had no intentions of staying now.

"Hey Ichigo, where are you going?!" Renji grabbed his arm, ducking when Ichigo threw a punch at him and backed up, looking at him in surprise. "Ichigo?" He asked when he saw how upset his friend was. "What happened?"

"Oh you really wanna know?" Ichigo stepped towards him, pointing his finger at him threateningly. "You made me believe that bastard would come back. Turns out he's got himself a girlfriend and never bothered telling me. He strung me along and for what? A bit of fun?!" Ichigo opened the door and paused before turning to look at Renji again. "I'm done with him and I swear to god, don't ever mention his name in front of me again, ever."

"Gotcha." Renji nodded, too afraid to do anything else as the look in Ichigo's eyes told him he was on the verge of madness right now, the alcohol in his system fuelling his anger into an almost uncontrollable rage. "See you next week."

Ichigo scowled before slamming the door shut and walking down the street, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep them warm. He walked for a while, letting the alcohol burning through his system fade, taking his anger with it. He sighed and sat down on the kerb, not caring what anyone thought if they saw.

He frowned when his phone beeped and pulled it out to see he had several messages and missed calls from Grimmjow and snorted, deleting them without reading them. Whatever he had to say, Ichigo wasn't interested. He pulled his knees up to rest his head on them, the last ebbs of anger fading, leaving behind nothing but the cold and wet and his hurt. Clutching his knees tightly, Ichigo sighed heavily and closed his eyes.

"You promised me you would come back, you told me you loved me." He whispered the words to himself, rubbing at his face when tears spilled onto his cheeks. "So why did you do this? Why did you break my heart?"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

To say Grimmjow was confused was an understatement, he had no idea what the hell was going on or what Ichigo was talking about. A girlfriend? Grimmjow sighed and shook his head, attempting and failing to reach Ichigo as the automated message played again, asking him to leave a message.

"Hey Ichi it's me again... Look, I don't know why you think I have a girlfriend but I promise you I don't. Just... call me back when you get this, please." Ending the call, Grimmjow sighed and rubbed his head with a frown. "Why the hell would he think that?"

"So what did he want?" Grimmjow turned to see Tier had come back and was looking at him questioningly. "That guy, Ichigo? He seemed pretty pissed off."

"He's my boyfriend... or was, no he is... I don't know. He's got it in his head I'm cheating on him." He frowned and looked at her. "You didn't say anything like that to him did you?"

"No, you don't have a girlfriend as far as I'm aware. I didn't even know you had a boyfriend." She shrugged and walked over to him, placing a hand on his arm and smiled. "Obviously he has trust issues, you're better off without him."

Grimmjow frowned and looked down at her hand before brushing it off and stepping away. It was too similar to Ichigo's gesture to be comfortable. "That's not Ichigo, he wouldn't just assume that. Not unless he had reason too." Pulling out his phone again, Grimmjow tried to reach Ichigo, the call going to answer phone immediately. Sighing heavily, he frowned and looked at Tier again. "What did he say to you?"

"Just that he wanted to talk to you." She sniffed, looking away. "He yelled at me when I asked why, he's rude if you ask me." Looking back at Grimmjow, she smiled softly. "Maybe he thought we were together?"

Grimmjow snorted. "That's ridiculous, I've never even mentioned you to him. Tonight was the first time he'd found out about you." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Look, I'm going home, we can finish off the project tomorrow, it's not due in until next week."

"Do you want me drive you back?" She asked hopefully, following him to the door.

"No, I'm fine." He turned and smiled at her before opening the door. "See you at school in the morning."

"Ok." She watched him walk down the path and sighed, smiling to herself. "You're one step closer to being mine Grimmjow. It won't take long now."

Grimmjow slipped back into the house quietly, stealthily making his way up the stairs to his room. Sitting down on the bed, he pulled his phone out again and stared at it.

"C'mon Ichigo, you really believe I'd do that to you?" He looked up when someone knocked on his door, sighing when his mother came in. "Yeah?"

She frowned, moving to stand in front of him with a disapproving expression. "Is that really the way to talk to me?"

Grimmjow sighed heavily, forcing himself not to roll his eyes. "Sorry mother, what is it?"

"You're home early aren't you? I thought you would be at Tier's for a few more hours yet." She sighed when Grimmjow looked away. "What happened?"

"Nothing you care about."

"Grimmjow?" She sat down next to him and placed a hand on his knee. "I'm your mother, so I want to know."

"You really want to know?" Grimmjow looked at her again and snorted, a bitter smile forming on his lips. "Ichigo got pissed at me. He thinks I'm cheating on him, that I've got a girlfriend. Now he won't answer my calls."

She raised an eyebrow, glancing at the phone in his hands. "You've been talking to him?"

"Is that all you can say?" He asked in disbelief, standing up and gave her an incredulous look. "You don't care about how I feel?" He shook his head and laughed. "I bet you're glad this happened. All you care about is the fact that I was talking to him!" He looked down at his phone and frowned, dropping it in her lap. "Well there you go, that's my only means of communication with him. Not that he wants to talk to me so it doesn't even matter anymore."

He left before she could respond, ignoring his father at the door and brushed past him to leave the house again. Sighing heavily, he started walking. Giving up his phone was a stupid thing to do, berating himself for doing it because now, if Ichigo did call back, he couldn't answer. That would so help his position with the teen. He kicked out at a stone, watching it bounce across the road and shook his head.

_It doesn't matter anyway, Ichigo doesn't want to talk to me so why would he call. Why does he think I've got a girlfriend? Who put that idea in his head? I was texting him five minutes before hand and he was fine, so what happened? Does he really hate me?_

He sat down on a bench and groaned, resting his head in his hands. He still had another two months until his birthday and in that time, Ichigo could move on if he wanted to. The man had enough charm to get whoever he wanted and if he was mad, it wouldn't take him long to find someone new.

He scowled at the thought. Someone else dating Ichigo, kissing him, touching him. Someone else Ichigo could fall in love with. He stood up abruptly and balled his hands into fists before going back to his parent's quickly. He found them sat in the dining room, obviously talking about him by the looks on their faces.

"I need my phone." When they didn't say anything, he sighed in frustration. "Please, I need to call him again."

"What's the point when he won't answer?" His father asked calmly, leaning back in his chair to observe his son. "I think it's evident to say this charade of a relationship is in pieces. Just give it up Grimmjow."

"Charade?" Grimmjow glared and him, slamming his hands on the table. "Like hell it's fake, just ask Nel! I love him!" He looked at his mother. "Please, I need to get through to him. I won't let someone else take him." She hesitated and Grimmjow jumped at it, she rarely conceded, let alone went against his father. "Please, I'll do whatever you want. Just let me call him."

For a moment, he believed she was going to give him the phone. Then her face hardened and she shook her head. "It's for the best Grimmjow. You'll see soon enough, you don't need him."

Grimmjow sighed and glanced at his father, knowing there was no way to dissuade him. "Tch, fine." He left the room, going back into his own and laid down on the bed with a groan. "Fucking idiot, why did you give them the phone?" Running a hand through his hair, he sat up and opened his drawer, pulling out a photo.

He'd managed to find a picture of Ichigo in his things, not realising he'd packed it. Smoothing out the corners, he sighed heavily and looked down at it with a soft smile. Ichigo didn't know about the photo, he'd taken it when he was asleep and never told him.

In the photo, Ichigo's face was smoothed free of lines, his hair sticking up in several directions and his mouth open partially as he breathed. Grimmjow frowned, tracing his finger over his cheekbone.

"I'll come back Ichi, I'll make you see the truth." He carefully hid the photo behind him with the door opened, frowning at his mother when she came in. "What? Haven't you said enough?" She closed the door quietly and sat down next to him, looking at him expectantly. "What?"

"For someone who wants their phone so badly, you're not really trying are you?"

He stiffened and looked at her with a frown. "What's the point. You and dad already said no so I can't say or do anything to change that." His eyes widened in surprise when she held out his phone and took it, looking at her confusedly. "Why?"

"You have five minutes, make it quick and don't tell your father. He doesn't know."

Grimmjow looked at her speechlessly, she never went again his father. She never chose him. "I... Thanks." She nodded and stood up, leaving the room quietly. Grimmjow looked down at the phone and sighed heavily before trying again to call Ichigo.

"Hello?" Grimmjow sat stunned for a moment when Ichigo answered, he really wasn't expecting him to. He heard Ichigo sigh heavily and sit up. "Who is it?" He murmured, slurring his words slightly and indicating to Grimmjow he'd been asleep.

"Ichigo?"

He heard him suck in a breath and hesitate. "What?" He asked sharply, making Grimmjow flinch.

"Just hear me out yeah?"

"No."

"Wait, don't hang up!" Grimmjow clutched the phone tightly, willing Ichigo to just hold on. He sighed in relief when Ichigo snorted and sighed in defeat.

"What?"

"Ichi I'm not cheating on you, I swear. Please you gotta believe me."

Ichigo sniffed, and sighed heavily, Grimmjow could hear him shift around slightly. "Why should I?" He whispered quietly, barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Because you love me?" Grimmjow hesitated before answering, cursing for the questioning at the end.

He chuckled shakily. "Why does that sound more like a question than a statement?" He sighed heavily and paused before slowly responding. "Just... for now give me some space."

"But-"

"Goodbye Grimmjow."

"Wait, Ichigo-" He sighed when Ichigo ended the call, dropping his phone on the bed with a groan. "Fuck..."

"So it didn't go well then?"

He looked up to see his mother had come back and looked away. "No, it didn't." He held out his phone and she took it, turning to leave. She paused at the door and looked back at him.

"I'm sure he'll come around."

Grimmjow looked at her perplexed as she left. Why did she even care? His parents both hated Ichigo and their relationship. But maybe, his mother didn't as much as he thought. Lying down, he ran a hand through his hair and pulled his photo out from under him.

"Ichigo..."

...

Ichigo would admit it, he felt bad about cutting the call short, and he hated himself for it. He shivered and curled up under his covers, holding his phone tightly to his chest.

After crying himself exhausted on the street curb, Ichigo had picked himself up and gone home. Thankfully, when he got back the house was dark and quiet, the perfect environment for him to sneak in without being stopped. He fell asleep quickly, too exhausted to even take his shoes off.

His dream had been nice, his pain forgotten in it. He was happy, he was with Grimmjow. They were, ironically, in his bed. They weren't speaking, Grimmjow was kissing the back of his neck, down his shoulder, over his spine. Ichigo shivered, letting out a soft moan and he smiled when Grimmjow chuckled and kissed his cheek.

_"I love you Ichigo."_

He woke up with a start and frowned when his phone rang, cursing it for waking him up and without thinking, he'd answered it. Needless to say, it was Grimmjow. He almost hung up, almost, but he couldn't. Something in Grimmjow's voice wouldn't let him, pleading. He almost believed him when he said he didn't have a girlfriend, but Ichigo couldn't bring himself to take that. He couldn't have that hope, only to crushed again, he knew he wouldn't live through that.

He wanted to believe Grimmjow so badly that it hurt. But his hesitation scared him out of listening. Ichigo was still angry, still hurt and definitely still drunk. Not a good combination to sit down and have a chat with. He let out a shuddering sigh and gripped his phone tightly, his thoughts drifting back to his dream.

"Grimmjow..."


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

_*Two Months Later*_

Ichigo woke with a start when his alarm rang and groaned, managing to hit it correctly to make the noise stop. Burying his head under the pillow, Ichigo sighed heavily.

"Fucking great..."

Today was Grimmjow's birthday, something Ichigo had been dreading a long time now. It meant there was a chance he would come back any day now. Not that Ichigo was expecting him to, but if he did, Ichigo didn't know what he'd say, how to react to seeing him again.

Part of him wanted to forget all the shit that had happened and just be with Grimmjow again. But another part of him wanted to forget everything and move on with his life. Another part of him wanted Grimmjow to come back just so he could beat the shit out of him. Right then, Ichigo wasn't sure which side was winning.

Ichigo did regret how he left things though. He knew he'd overreacted to the girlfriend situation, that he should've heard Grimmjow out. But obviously he'd had more to drink than he thought and his judgement wasn't in the right place. Now their relationship was in pieces and Ichigo didn't know what to do to fix it, or even if he wanted to.

"Ichigoo!!"

The teen groaned as his door slammed open, rolling off his bed in time, making his father smack into the wall. He glared at the man from the floor before picking himself up.

"What was that for?! Couldn't you see I was sleeping?!"

"Good reflexes son." Isshin mumbled, collapsing on the bed.

Ichigo snorted and grabbed a shirt to pull on before going downstairs. "Idiot." He muttered to himself, grabbing some toast from the side as he sat down and sighed heavily.

"What's up with you?" Karin asked, joining him a few moments later when she saw his drawn expression.

"Mmm? Oh, nothing." Ichigo shrugged and looked down at his hands. "Just thinking I guess."

"Grimmjow?" He jerked, looking at her in surprise and she snorted. "Please, it's obvious. You always look like that when it concerns him. What's happened now?"

Ichigo smiled wryly and sighed, Karin was too observant for her own good. "It's his birthday."

"So?" Karin shrugged, leaning back in her chair before continuing. "I thought you two were over so why should you care. Besides, he's in another country so you shouldn't be acting all depressed."

"I know, I know." Ichigo sighed and stood up, giving her a small smile. "I've gotta get ready for school, see you later."

"Bye." She watched him go upstairs before sighing and shaking her head. "Idiot."

When he got back to his room, Ichigo was thankful his father had disappeared and rubbed the back of his neck. He frowned when catching sight of his phone and hesitated. He snorted and turned his back on the object to get changed. Grabbing his bag, Ichigo eyed the phone warily before sighing and picking it up. He looked down at it for a moment, debating his options before shaking his head.

"Can't believe I'm doing this."

He muttered the words as he unlocked the phone and before he could think about the consequences of his actions, he sent Grimmjow a text.

_' Happy birthday Grimm. Call me when you get this if you want to talk - Ichigo '_

Pressing the send button, Ichigo quickly shoved his phone in his pocket and sighed shakily. "Too late to chicken out now Ichigo."

Shaking his head, Ichigo glanced at his watch and cursed, he should've left ten minutes ago. He left quickly, running down to school and just making it as the bell rang when he entered the classroom. He sighed in relief and collapsed in his seat, ignoring Renji's sniggering in favour of pulling his textbook out.

Ichigo glanced at his phone for the umpteenth time, sighing in frustration when he saw Grimmjow still hadn't replied. Cursing in his head, Ichigo scowled and put his phone away, trying to focus on the lesson and failed miserably.

When the day finally ended, Ichigo was beyond pissed at Grimmjow for not responding. He'd been sure the man had something to say to him, hell he'd said he wanted to explain. So why the hell when given the chance wouldn't he?

Ichigo left school as the bell rang, not even bothering to say goodbye to his friends who watched on warily, knowing he was in a bad mood. When he got home, Ichigo threw his bag in his room before yet again looking at his phone, growling in annoyance and throwing it on the bed when he saw he had no messages.

"Fine, that's how you want to play?" He growled at the object. "I don't give a damn. You don't want to talk to me? Good because I don't want to talk to you!" He huffed and left his room, slamming the door behind him before stomping downstairs.

Yuzu came out of her room slowly once he'd left and went over to Ichigo's, opening the door to see no-one was there and frowned. "Who was Ichi-nii talking to?"

...

_*Three Weeks Later*_

"Good morning Ichigoo!!" Isshin boomed, throwing himself onto the sleeping teen who yelped in surprise and struggled fruitlessly. "Do you know what day it is?!"

"My death day?" He asked sarcastically, shoving his father off and sighing heavily.

"Close! Your birthday! My beautiful son is finally eighteen, a man!"

Ichigo's eye twitched when Isshin called him beautiful before he scoffed and kicked him in the chest when he dove in for a hug. "Congratulations. Now can you leave me be to sleep some more?"

"But Yuzu's already made breakfast, she's waiting for you downstairs."

Isshin grabbed Ichigo's arms, dragging him downstairs before he could protest. Ichigo was insanely thankful he'd slept fully clothed that night since his father hadn't given him much chance to change. Ichigo pulled his arm free and sat down slowly, smiling at Yuzu when she came in with breakfast and grinned at him.

"Happy birthday Ichi-nii!"

"Thanks Yuzu, breakfast looks great." He grabbed a fork to start eating, not realising how hungry he was until seeing the food.

Karin came in the room, holding a bunch of letters in her hands. "Here you go, birthday cards."

"'Fanks."

She wrinkled her nose and snorted. "Animal, finish your mouthful first."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and swallowed before replying. "Sorry mother, is this better?"

"Definitely. By the way your presents are in the sitting room so hurry your ass up so we can get this over with."

One of their family traditions, kept on by Isshin, was that on any of their birthdays, they would sit in the living room together as the birthday person opened their gifts. Ichigo found it a waste of time, as did Karin but Yuzu shared their father's passion and neither of them cared to take away the excitement they got from it.

"Ok, let me finish and I'll be there in a sec."

"Sure."

She left and Ichigo quickly finished his breakfast before joining his family to open his presents and cards. He thanked them for the gifts and Karin muttered finally and got up to leave the room, Yuzu soon following. Isshin gave Ichigo the pile of letters from the post and ruffled his hair before leaving him to open them.

Ichigo sighed heavily and opened them, most of them from distant family, a few from his friends. He paused when he got to the last one and frowned and the unfamiliar handwriting before opening it, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw it was from Nel.

_' Happy birthday Ichigo!_

_Hope you have a good time and are ok. Don't give up on Grimmjow just yet, I know he's not come back yet. Give him a chance, please, he'll be back soon. I promise._

_\- Nel '_

Ichigo sighed and closed the card, looking down at it with a frown before snorted. Why should he care if Grimmjow came back or not. As far as he was concerned, Grimmjow didn't have anything to say to him and he didn't have anything to say to Grimmjow. So if he came back, nice for him but Ichigo didn't give a damn.

He frowned when his phone rang and pulled it out, rolling his eyes when he saw it was Renji. "Yeah?"

"Hey, don't forget you're coming over to Rukia's later. Byakuya's gone for the weekend so we're setting up your party now."

Ichigo groaned and mentally smacked himself, he'd completely forgotten about the party. "Yeah, I'll be there soon."

"Great, see you then. Oh and happy birthday!"

Ichigo snorted and ended the call before standing up to stretch. Scratching his head, he sighed in defeat before going upstairs to shower and get ready to leave. An hour later and he was walking over to Rukia's and he stopped outside the door. Inside he could hear the music playing and he shook his head before opening the door and going in.

Making his way through the house, he found Renji messing with the sound system and nudged him with his foot, making the red head yell and jump up, whacking his head in the process. Rubbing the bruised spot, Renji scowled and turned to look at him, grinned when he saw it was Ichigo.

"Hey!" He yelled over the music. "How are you?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes, pulling the plug on the speakers so they could talk without screaming at each other. "Good thanks. I see you've got the music set up."

"Yup. This baby's ready to roll." Renji patted the speakers fondly before looking at Ichigo again. "Rukia's gone to get the food and I've just about finished setting up."

"Great, when's the party starting?"

"Few hours yet. I invited the year over so it's gunna be awesome!" Renji grinned widely, rolling his eyes when Ichigo scoffed.

"Renji, you do realise we won't know half these people and they'll probably bring people too. This could be very bad, very quickly."

"Nah, they would dare. It's the Kuchiki Manor. Byakuya would kill them if they dared even put a scratch anywhere in the place. So it's cool." Renji shrugged and slung an arm around Ichigo's shoulders. "Come on, help me buy the drinks."

Ichigo sighed in defeat and let Renji drag him to the shops to help him carry the drinks back. He dumped them in the kitchen and groaned, stretching his cramped muscles. He turned to see Renji run over to Rukia and they started talking and sighed when they kissed quickly. He turned back to the table and rested his head in his hands as it hit him, he was alone again.

After being with Grimmjow, being so close to someone and sharing his life with them, being alone was hard. He didn't even realise it until now how much he missed being in a relationship, being with Grimmjow. He snorted at the thought and stood up straight again, shaking his head.

"I don't miss him."

...

Ichigo curled up on the sofa and sighed heavily, closing his eyes whilst attempting to drown out the loud music reverberating around his skull, giving him a major headache. The party had been in full swing for over an hour now and just as he predicted, he knew hardly anyone there.

"Hey, you look like you need a drink."

His eyes snapped open and he turned to look at the person sat next to him holding out a beer, obviously addressing him. "Uh hi?"

The man chuckled as Ichigo slowly took the drink. "Name's Shiro, what's yours?"

"Ichigo." He looked at the drink suspiciously and the man called Shiro laughed.

"Don't worry, I haven't done anything to it." He paused and lent closer. "So you're the birthday boy huh?"

Ichigo chuckled and shrugged. "Yeah, that's me. So how do you know that? You're definitely not from our school. You're too old."

"Well that's rude, I'm only twenty-one." Shiro grinned, reaching out to touch Ichigo's cheek. "I'm not that old."

Ichigo stiffened at the gesture before slowly sighing and relaxing, reaching up to hold the hand to his cheek and close his eyes. "Mmm. That's only three years I suppose..." Ichigo blushed when he realised what he was doing and pulled away, clearing his throat. "Uh... sorry."

"No, I don't mind." Shiro chuckled and stood up, holding out his hand. "You're cute, so you coming or not."

Ichigo hesitated before nodding and grasping his hand, letting Shiro lead him from the room. Renji, who was watching the exchange, nudged Rukia's arm. "Hey, Ichigo just went off with some guy."

Rukia turned to look at him, her eyebrows rising in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Yeah."

She sighed and shook her head, pulling out her phone. "Great, why does he have to complicate things?"

"Who you calling?"

"Who do you think?"

...

Ichigo's back hit the wall and he groaned as Shiro kissed down his neck. "Damn."

"Heh, you like that?"

"Yeah." Ichigo shivered when his hand slipped under his shirt. He hadn't realised how much he'd missed this until now. He closed his eyes and groaned, sliding his fingers into soft blue hair. Wait... blue? Ichigo stiffened and his eyes opened in surprise, making Shiro back away.

"What's wrong?"

"I-" Ichigo paused and stepped away from him, shaking his head. "I can't, I'm sorry... I just... I gotta go." He left quickly, running a shaky hand through his hair as he made his way down the stairs. He paused at the bottom and sat down, holding his head in his hands. "Shit..."

"Ichigo?"

His head snapped up and his eyes widened in surprise as his body stiffened. "G-grimmjow?"


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

Ichigo couldn't move, not even a single muscle would obey him as he sat staring at Grimmjow in complete shock. His mind was screaming at him to move, to do something, anything, but he couldn't. His body had gone into meltdown at seeing him again. Grimmjow sighed and rubbed the back of his neck before smiling sheepishly.

"Happy birthday by the way."

That did it, Ichigo flung himself into Grimmjow's arms, clinging to him tightly as he started crying uncontrollably. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please don't hate me, I'm sorry. I love you, I love you so much Grimm." Ichigo sobbed the words, clutching the back of his shirt tightly, refusing to let go when Grimmjow pulled away.

Grimmjow's eyes widened in surprise when Ichigo broke down and looked down at him in confusion. "Why are you sorry?"

Ichigo hiccupped and rubbed his face free of tears before looking up at him. "Please..."

"What?" Grimmjow lent down so he could hear him better and Ichigo hesitated before cupping his face, pulling him down into a kiss. He threading his fingers through the definitely blue hair and groaned when Grimmjow pulled him closer and kissed back.

"Hey that's not fair, I already claimed this one for the night. Find yourself someone else."

Grimmjow paused, pulling away as Ichigo stiffened and buried his head in his chest. His eyes landed on an older male with white hair on the stairs and his eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

The man snorted and finished coming down the stairs to stand in front of Grimmjow. "You heard me, I saw him first so back off."

Grimmjow scowled and shook his head. "Actually, I'll think you'll find I saw him first, over ten years ago. So why don't you back the hell off. Besides, as you can see, Ichigo's made his choice and it aint you."

His eyes narrowed in annoyance and he looked at Ichigo who was refusing to even acknowledge him and sighed in defeat, holding his hands up. "Fine, I can see I've lost this. If you change your mind Ichigo, come find me." With that, he left and Ichigo sighed in relief, stiffening again when Grimmjow asked him a question.

"Who the hell was that and what was he going on about?"

He looked down guiltily and bit his lip before answering quietly. "His name is Shiro, and I was going to sleep with him." He felt Grimmjow freeze and looked up at him again, grabbing the front of his shirt. "But I didn't, I couldn't!" He gripped his shirt tighter when his hands started shaking and looked at Grimmjow earnestly. "Please, you gotta believe me, it meant nothing. I'm alone Grimm, I felt so alone and he took that away, he made me feel wanted after you wouldn't even reply to my text. I wasn't thinking, but when I did think, I walked away. He wasn't you so I couldn't do it."

"Ichigo..."

"Don't say it, please." Ichigo bowed his head to hide his tears and sighed shakily. "I don't deserve you." He whispered, letting go of Grimmjow's shirt to wrap his arms around himself. "I'm a hypocrite. I dared to hate you for even thinking you were cheating on me, when I'm the one who actually ended up cheating. Just leave me here and go, that's what I deserve."

Grimmjow sighed and shook his head before grasping Ichigo's chin and lifting his head to kiss him firmly. "What about what I deserve? I want nothing more than you, so don't tell me otherwise. I didn't come all the way here to walk away after five minutes."

"Don't you hate me?"

"No." He answered firmly, brushing away Ichigo's tears. "You're drunk and you made a mistake because you were hurt. How can I hate you for that? You realised it was a mistake and walked away. That's what counts."

Ichigo shivered and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologising idiot, besides, we're not technically together anymore. So it's not like you cheated on me. Don't beat yourself up over it." Grimmjow sighed and dropped his hand. "So, do you wanna be with me again or not?"

He nodded earnestly, moving into Grimmjow's arms and sighed in relief. "Yes, I want that more than anything."

"Good." Grimmjow lifted Ichigo's head so he could kiss him again and smiled. "Wanna get out of here?"

"Definitely." Ichigo smiled happily as he was lead from the house, attempting and failing to miss the doorstep and he stumbled over it, Grimmjow the only thing preventing him falling. He blushed when the man chuckled. "What?"

"You really are drunk aren't you."

"So?"

Grimmjow shrugged, leading him over to a car and opened a door for him, getting into the driver's seat before continuing. "You can still talk normally, think kinda rationally, but you definitely don't have any coordination. I want to see you drunk more often, means if I piss you off, you probably couldn't hit me."

Ichigo snorted and curled up in the seat, looking at Grimmjow with a smile. "Shut up idiot. Where are we going?"

"Back to Nel's. I'm staying with her until I can find my own place."

"How you gunna pay for it?"

Grimmjow smirked and glanced at him quickly before pulling the car off. "I got a job."

Ichigo's eyebrows rose in surprise. "A job? You? Where?"

He rolled his eyes, the alcohol was obviously starting to affect Ichigo's brain, he couldn't even form a proper sentence. "With your Uncle, got a job teaching karate. What do you think?" Ichigo sat looking at him for a moment in shock before bursting into laughter. "What?"

"You and Uncle Kisuke?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing." Ichigo managed to compose himself to some degree, unable to hide his grin. "Guess I'll be seeing a lot of you huh?"

"You'd be seeing a lot of me anyway." Grimmjow smiled and grasped his hand, giving it a quick squeeze before returning to holding the steering wheel. "I'm not letting you go again, we are not going through this shit again."

"Thank you." Ichigo whispered, smiling softly before yawning and closing his eyes. He only meant to rest quickly through the journey, but the next thing he knew he was being laid on what he assumed was a bed. "What's going on?" He mumbled, sitting up and slowly opening his eyes to see Grimmjow sit down next to him. "Grimm?"

"Mmm?"

"We at Nel's?"

"Yeah." Grimmjow leant towards him and Ichigo's eyes fluttered shut when he kissed his forehead. "Go back to sleep."

"No." Ichigo mumbled, grasping Grimmjow's shirt to pull the man on top of him. "I want you Grimm." He kissed his neck, nipping at his jawline to make Grimmjow groan.

"C'mon Ichi, you're drunk."

"Doesn't mean anything, still want you." Ichigo paused and looked up at him. "You want me don't you?"

"Yes." Grimmjow murmured, leaning down to kiss him. "Doesn't mean now is the right time, you're drunk."

Ichigo whined in frustration, he was turned on as hell and Grimmjow just wasn't budging. "You're mean." He pressed their bodies together, grinning when Grimmjow's eyes widened in surprise when he felt just how aroused he was. "You did that so are you gunna do something about it or what?"

Grimmjow chuckled and kissed him again, his hand sliding under Ichigo's shirt. "Fine, no sex though."

"Aww, no fair."

Ichigo pouted and Grimmjow snorted, placing a chaste kiss on his lips. "I'll give you a blow job, happy?"

He thought about it for a moment before grinning and nodding eagerly. "Ok."

...

Ichigo sighed happily as Grimmjow pulled him into his arms and rested his head on his chest with a tired smile. Trailing his fingers over Grimmjow's back, he hummed. "Grimmjow that was good."

"Yeah I know, you didn't last long."

"Shut up, you're fault. It's been almost seven months, so much for six."

Grimmjow chuckled, nuzzling Ichigo's hair. "Yeah, I'm still in the six month range though so I kept my promise."

"What about your other promise?"

"Mmm? Which one's that?"

Ichigo sighed and poked his chest. "You promised me a ring." He hesitated before looking away. "Then again, I was an ass and broke up with you. So forget it, I'm not expecting one after what I've done."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes before pulling Ichigo into a kiss. "Shut up Ichi, you'll get your ring. Now go to sleep already."

"Mmm, ok."

Ichigo yawned and curled up in his arms again, falling asleep instantly. Grimmjow sighed and looked down at his relaxed face and smiled softly, running his finger over his cheekbone. "I love you Ichigo."

...

When Ichigo woke up in the morning, he sighed and stretched, running his hand across the empty bed before pausing and frowning, should it be empty? He sat up and looked around the unfamiliar room, slowly pulling the bed covers closer. It was then he realised he was naked.

He sighed heavily and rested his head on his knees, attempting to recall some memory of the night before. What came to mind was the party, and a man... Ichigo paused and wracked his brains for a name, Shiro. His body stiffened when he remembered he'd gone upstairs with him and he looked around again.

Was he still at Rukia's? Did he sleep with that man?

Ichigo shook his head and groaned, curling up tighter as his stomach churned. _How could I do that? How could I sleep with him? I don't even know him, just that he's 21 and his name's Shiro. What have I done? What do I say? How can I explain this to anyone? To Grimmjow?_

He inhaled sharply and buried his head in his arms. "Grimmjow..."

_What do I say? He'll hate me. How could I be so stupid? I've ruined everything, he'll never forgive me for this._

Ichigo frowned and slowly stood up, noting his body felt fine and smiled hopefully. Maybe, just maybe, they didn't have sex. Maybe he could still save his relationship with Grimmjow, if he came back. He hesitated and looked down at his hands. _If he came back?_

Shaking off the uneasy feeling, Ichigo found his clothes and changed slowly, debating his best chance of getting away without being stopped. Deeming it unavoidable, he sighed deeply and decided he better face the inevitable and opened the door to leave the bedroom. He paused when he stepped outside and frowned. Instead of the Kuchiki Manor hallway, he found himself in a living room. He was in a flat. Ichigo paused when he heard someone in the adjacent kitchen and hesitated before slowly making his way towards it.

He froze when he saw it was Grimmjow, his mouth opening in surprise. "Grimmjow?"

He turned at the sound of his name, smiling when he saw it was Ichigo. "Hey, you ok?"

"I-" Ichigo stuttered, words failing him. "I spent the night with you?" He asked finally, disbelievingly. How could he forget that? He frowned and lent against the table. "What happened?"

Grimmjow frowned and walked over to him, touching his back gently. "Don't you remember?"

Ichigo groaned and shook his head, sighing heavily. "No, not really. It's all a blur. I woke up and thought I spent the night with that guy, Shiro. Thankfully, it turns out I didn't." He turned and looked at Grimmjow. "Did we have sex?"

He shook his head, smiling wryly. "No, you wanted to, but I said no because you were drunk. I gave you a blowjob instead to keep you happy."

Ichigo blushed and groaned, pressing his head to Grimmjow's chest. "Ughh, I can't believe myself sometimes."

"Hey c'mon, it wasn't that bad. At least, that's what you said. You seemed to enjoy it."

"Yeah I'm sure I did." He muttered, shaking his head. "Sorry, I guess I can't control myself when I'm drunk."

Grimmjow chuckled and lifted Ichigo's head, kissing him quickly. "Hey, I don't mind. It was good, I'm glad you came back with me."

Ichigo sighed, wrapping his arms around Grimmjow's neck to kiss him firmly. When he pulled away, he smiled shyly, drawing a pattern on his chest. "So if I asked now, would you have sex with me?"

"Hell yes. You were drunk last night, you've got no excuse now." Grimmjow grinned and kissed him again. "Why? Do you want to?"

Ichigo shuddered before nodding slowly. "Yes."

Grimmjow smiled and caught his hand, pulling him gently into the bedroom. "Then c'mon. Let me show you how much I've missed you." Ichigo smiled, following after him happily and sat on the bed.

He frowned when Grimmjow let go of his hand and went to his drawers. "What are you looking for?"

"You don't remember?" He looked at Ichigo to see him shake his head and rolled his eyes. "Right, you can't remember last night. You asked me about your ring."

Ichigo's eyes widened in surprise when Grimmjow grabbed something and came back over, sitting down next to him. He blushed when Grimmjow held his hand and kissed his fingers. "Grimm..."

"I love you Ichigo Kurosaki. I've never loved someone like this and I never will again, you're the only one for me." Grimmjow murmured the words and looked up at Ichigo, smiling softly. "Will you marry me?"

Ichigo let out a shaky breath before nodding, wrapping his arms around Grimmjow's neck to kiss him. "You need to ask?" He settled in Grimmjow's lap and grinned. "I love you too, always."

Grimmjow grinned back and took Ichigo's hand again, sliding a ring onto his ring finger. "There you go. I promised you a ring didn't I?"

He laughed and looked at it, unable to find any words to express how he felt to Grimmjow. "I-" Ichigo stopped and shook his head, opting instead to kiss him again. "You know what I mean. Thank you."

"Yeah I know." He flipped their positions and smirked at Ichigo's shocked expression before kissing him. "Now Ichigo, I've been waiting patiently for this. Something I'm quite proud of, considering how you were last night. So I can't hold back anymore."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and tugged on his shirt. "Then don't." Pulling him down into another kiss, Ichigo smiled against his lips. "I love you."

"Love you too Ichi."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

Grimmjow opened his eyes at the question, looking down at Ichigo with a small frown. "Sure I guess."

He sighed, poking his chest gently. "Who's Tier?"

"A friend from Germany." He sat up, Ichigo moving to sit in his lap. "Why?" Noting Ichigo's downward gaze he sighed. "She's the one you thought I was cheating with?" When he nodded, Grimmjow snorted and punched his shoulder gently. "Idiot, I wouldn't do that."

"Mmm, I know." Ichigo wrapped his arms around his neck, splaying his fingers through tousled blue hair. "I was just curious who she was. She was the one who said she was your girlfriend."

"Huh."

"What?"

Grimmjow shrugged, his frown deepening. "She told me she didn't know why you assumed I was cheating."

Ichigo smiled, leaning forward to kiss him. "I think she was jealous. Sounds like she wanted you and you being you, were completely oblivious."

"Hey, c'mon that's not fair. I used to be pretty good at knowing when someone was interested in me." Grimmjow grinned, trailing his fingers down Ichigo's spine to make him shiver. "After you I stopped paying attention, guess I lost that judgement."

"Ah well, you don't need it anymore." Ichigo grinned when Grimmjow caught his hand and twirled his ring around his finger. "You've got me and I'm not leaving."

Grimmjow snorted, but smiled. "That's so corny."

"Shut up!" Shoving the older teen, Ichigo pushed them both back onto the bed. Leaning on his elbows, he grinned down at his lover. "I'm in love, I'm allowed to sound corny. At least for a while anyway. Then we get to the point where we can't be bothered with shit like that."

"I'm already at that point." Grimmjow winced when Ichigo thumped his stomach. "C'mon, we're engaged Ichi, what else do I have to do to show you I love you? I came back for you didn't I?"

Ichigo paused, frowning in thought. "Engaged? Huh, I never thought of it like that. We're engaged?"

"Uh yeah, that's what happens when you say yes." Grimmjow caught his hand when he went to punch him. "Now that's not very nice." He ran his free hand up Ichigo's thigh to grasp his hip, flipping their positions. "I'm gunna have to punish you for that."

Ichigo shivered and had to hold back a moan at the heated look he was receiving. "What you going to do?"

"You'll just have to wait and see won't you." He kissed Ichigo, pushing his tongue into the orange heads compliant mouth. He pulled away, making Ichigo whimper and smirked kissing him again chastely. "Be back in a second."

"What? Where are you going?" Ichigo struggled into a sitting position, watching in confusion as Grimmjow pulled his boxers on.

"Kitchen, I'm gunna get something." He grinned at Ichigo, leaning over to kiss him again. "Don't go anywhere."

"Oh yeah, I'm gunna jump out the window the moment you leave."

"You and your damn sarcasm."

Ichigo smirked, shoving Grimmjow's shoulder. "Go, get whatever it is and get the hell back. Me and you aint done."

"Baby, we aint done by a long shot." He kissed Ichigo once more before getting up to leave. Going into the kitchen, he grabbed a couple of glasses before beginning to rummage in the drawer.

"Hey, what'cha doing?"

He jumped, swearing when he hit his head and turned around to glare at his sister who was looking at him with biggest grin he'd ever seen on her. "What am I doing? What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to give me a heart attack?!"

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Whatever, this is my flat so my rules. So what you doing?"

"Getting food."

She wrinkled her nose when he pulled some chocolate out of the drawer. "Eww, I didn't know you were into that kinda thing." She giggled when he blushed.

"Shut up! It aint for that kinda thing. It's for eating dumbass, get your head out of the gutter." He paused and frowned at her. "How'd you know I've got someone with me anyway?"

She grinned wider, if that was even possible. "Please, I've heard it all. Whoever's in there is pretty loud. I came back about two rounds ago. So who is it?"

Grimmjow snorted, but couldn't help but smile. "It's Ichigo, who else would it be?"

"So you're back together?"

He rolled his eyes and gave her an amused look before filling the glasses with water. "No, we decided to have a bit of fun then go our separate ways. We're definitely not together."

"Oh haha." She swatted at him when he went past her. "Go enjoy yourself already. I'm going out, I don't need to hear any more. I can already picture vivid images."

"Then go already because we aint done."

"Hey Grimmjow."

"Yeah?" He paused at the bedroom door, turning back to look at her. "What is it?"

She smiled softly moving towards him to hug him quickly. "I'm glad you're back together, you look happy."

Grimmjow snorted when she let go. "Of course, me and Ichigo are practically made for each other. I doubt we could stay apart even if we wanted to."

"Yeah yeah. Go enjoy yourself." Nel called as she left and Grimmjow sighed before going back into the bedroom.

Ichigo was curled up in the bed, facing away from the door, making Grimmjow grin and creep over. Setting the drinks and chocolate on the side quietly, he lent over Ichigo, careful to not lean on the bed as to let him know he was there. He smirked, blowing lightly in the orange heads ear.

He yelped, clamping a hand over his ear and twisted around to glare at Grimmjow when he started laughing. "Asshole! What the hell was that for?!"

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it." Grimmjow managed to stop laughing and sat down next to him. "You looked too cute, I couldn't help myself."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed slightly. "I am not cute." He huffed, shoving Grimmjow's chest. "Don't even think about coming near me, I am so not in the mood."

"Oh yeah?" Grimmjow smiled coyly, reaching out to grab the chocolate and showed it to Ichigo. "What about some of this? Will it make you feel better?"

Ichigo's eyes lit up and he grabbed it before smiling at him. "Yup, definitely." He lent forward, kissing Grimmjow quickly before opening the sweet and eating a piece. "You know I love chocolate."

"Mmm, yes I do." Grimmjow kissed up his neck and Ichigo laughed lightly, pushing him away before pressing a bit of chocolate to his mouth.

"Eat it." Ichigo grinned when he obeyed, leaning forward to kiss him chastely. "Good?"

"Mhmm." Grimmjow smiled, pulling him onto his lap. "Not as good as you though."

"Now who's being corny?" He teased, placing the chocolate on the side in favour of cupping Grimmjow's face. "I love you." He murmured, running his thumb over his lip and grinning when he took it into his mouth. "Hey no fair, don't bite."

Grimmjow snorted, letting him go. "Idiot, why would I do that?"

"You wouldn't, I know that." Ichigo couldn't help but smile lovingly at him. "Forget the chocolate Grimm, we'll finish it later."

"I like your thinking."

...

"Hey, you want some chocolate now?" Grimmjow asked, holding it out for Ichigo to take who sighed and grabbed it slowly.

"Sure." He settled against Grimmjow's chest, offering him the rest when he broke a piece off. "Wanna know something?"

"What?"

"I like this, me and you." He looked up at Grimmjow. "I miss living with you."

He snorted and rolled his eyes. "Then move in with me dumbass. I'm sure Nel won't mind, it's only for a few weeks." He paused and shook his head. "You're helping pay rent though when we find a place."

Ichigo grinned happily and nodded. "Sounds fair enough, deal."

"So what kinda job you thinking of doing? School's about finished and we'll get our results in a couple of months. What do you think?"

Ichigo thought about it for a moment before shrugging. "I think I might go into art."

"Art?"

He turned around to smile at Grimmjow. "Yeah, I love it. I think I could make something of it, if I can get it out there."

Grimmjow shrugged and kissed his shoulder. "Yeah I guess, you are pretty good. Go for it, if that's what you want."

He grinned and kissed Grimmjow. "Thanks. I'll get another job whilst I start off, we'll make this work."

"If you say so."

Ichigo laughed, trailing his fingers through Grimmjow's hair before sighing. "I need to go home then. Dad'll be doing his nut in by now. I haven't called and it's already gone midday. You know where my phone is?"

He shrugged and glanced around the room. "Probably with your clothes. I think your trousers are under the desk."

Ichigo sighed and poked him softly. "Next time think about where your putting my clothes rather than throwing them across the room. We have this problem every damn time when we want to get changed again."

Grimmjow smirked as Ichigo got up and followed his progress across the room. "Maybe you should stop wearing clothes altogether then, I'm good with that."

He threw him a dirty look before picking up his trousers, rummaging in the pocket to find his phone. "Shut up Grimm, I'm not so sure everyone else would agree with you on that."

"Shame." Ichigo rolled his eyes as he grabbed his phone and made his way back to the bed, curling up under the warm covers again. "After you've called, wanna take a shower with me?"

"What?" Ichigo looked up at him in confusion. "Why would I do that?"

"Duh, you wanna go home looking like that? And I'm pretty sure you smell like sex too. Just because I can't tell, doesn't mean no-one else can."

He thought about it for a moment, realising Grimmjow was right and sighed in defeat. "Fine, but no more sex, I don't think my body can take another round."

"Sure it can, you're still able to walk aren't you?" Grimmjow ducked when Ichigo threw a pillow at him and laughed, leaning forward to kiss him quickly. "I'll go start the shower then, see you in a minute."

"Sure." Ichigo waited until he'd left the room before looking at his phone and sighing heavily. "Might as well get this over with." He muttered to himself before calling Isshin, praying that he wouldn't be too exuberant. "Hello?"

For a moment no-one replied and Ichigo frowned. "Ichigoo!" His father yelled, making him jump and drop the phone. He cursed and grabbed it again.

"Hey dad."

"Ichigo my son! Where have you been?! You haven't called all day and Rukia said you left last night. I thought someone had kidnapped you!"

Ichigo winced before sighing and shaking his head. "I'm fine dad, really. Sorry I haven't called I've just been distracted. Nothing's wrong, I'll be home in about an hour or so. Oh, and Grimmjow's back so he'll be coming to."

"Grimmjow? Is that who you went with?"

"Yeah."

He heard his father sigh. "What happened?"

Ichigo blushed and looked down at the bed before clearing his throat. "I, uh, we... We got back together."

"Well I'm glad you two sorting things out. I hope you were careful Ichigo."

"Oh shut up, it's not like I can get pregnant!" Ichigo snapped, his cheeks warming in embarrassment. "There's no big deal if we didn't! I'll see you in a couple of hours, bye!" He ended the call and groaned, dropping the phone on the bed. "Fucking idiot, use protection my ass, literally." He got up and stretched, rubbing his back with a wince. "Damn it Grimmjow, I won't be able to walk by the end of the day."

He went into the bathroom, slowly stepping into the shower and hugged Grimmjow from behind. "Hey." He murmured into his back. "After this we gotta go back to mine, kay?"

Grimmjow turned around and smiled before nodding. "Sure, c'mere."

Ichigo frowned but allowed him to pull him closer. "What?" His eyes widened in surprise when Grimmjow poured some shampoo on his hair, but they closed in content when he started massaging it in. "Mmm, that's nice."

Grimmjow laughed, leaning down to kiss him chastely. "Glad you like it, I'll help get you clean Ichi. Then we can go, sound good?"

"Sure." Ichigo sighed happily and allowed Grimmjow to continue his ministrations. He wanted to enjoy the peacefulness whilst it lasted because it was sure as hell going to blow up in his face when he went home.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

When they finally got out of the shower, Ichigo managed to stumble back into the bedroom, collapsing onto the bed with a satisfied sigh. "So much for not being able to go again huh?" He propped himself up on his elbows, sticking his tongue out childishly at Grimmjow.

"Shut up, aint my fault, you started it." He watched as Grimmjow came over and sat next to him before continuing. "Besides, I didn't see you complaining ten minutes ago."

"Yeah well, ten minutes ago I had no reason to complain." Ichigo rolled his eyes, using Grimmjow's arm as leverage to pull himself up to lean on the man's back. "Is it really that bad?"

"You try taking it several times and see how you feel afterwards."

"No thanks."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Ichigo trailed his fingers over Grimmjow's broad shoulder, pausing when his ring glinted in the sunlight and grinned giddily. "Grimmjow..."

"Yeah?"

He moved his hand to press over Grimmjow's heart. "I love you."

"Love you too Ichi."

Ichigo kissed his shoulder before standing up slowly, dropping his towel on the floor before making his way around the room collect his clothes. Glancing back at Grimmjow to see he was watching him, he snorted and rolled his eyes. "C'mon Grimm, it's not like you haven't seen me naked before. Hurry up and get changed, my dad will be wondering where we are soon."

"Alright, give me a minute." He stood up with a groan a stretched, noting how Ichigo averted his gaze and smirked. "What's up with you? It's not like you haven't seen me naked before either and I'm still wearing my towel."

"Oh shut up!" Ichigo glared at him as he started laughing before turning away to get changed. "Are you ready to go yet?" He asked, turning to face Grimmjow again and was thankful to see he was fully dressed.

"Sure." Grimmjow walked over to him and slung an arm around his shoulders, pressing his lips to his head. "How do you think your dad's gunna take it?"

"Take what?"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes before grabbing Ichigo's left hand and linking their fingers. "Our engagement dumbass."

Ichigo frowned down at their hands before sighing. "No idea, think we and keep it a secret?"

"Ha, sure, just hide your hand and we'll be fine."  Grimmjow grinned at him and they left, walking down the street at a leisurely place. "Do you want them to know?"

Ichigo smiled and bumped their shoulders together. "I don't have much of a choice do I? Besides, how bad can it be? After my dad calms down, it'll be fine."

"Mmm. We just gotta survive the first part."

Grimmjow looked down at Ichigo with a raised eyebrow, making the younger teen laugh lightly and kiss him quickly. "Don't look so put out. You know what he's like."

"Unfortunately. But I can live with that, as long as I have you."

Ichigo blushed and looked away. "Shut up." Grimmjow snorted but didn't reply as they continued down the street. Passing by Rukia's house, Ichigo paused. "Wait a moment, I need to find Renji."

"Ok?"

Ichigo dragged him up to the door and rang the bell, waiting patiently for several moments for Rukia to open the door. She looked at the both in surprise for a moment before grinning.

"I see you two got things sorted out huh?"

Ichigo blushed before clearing his throat. "Yeah, is Renji here?"

"Sure come in and I'll go get him." They followed her inside and waited as she went upstairs and Ichigo turned to look at Grimmjow with a frown.

"Since when is she friendly with you?"

Grimmjow shrugged before looking away. "I, uhh, may have called her a couple of times whilst in Germany."

Ichigo's eyebrows rose in surprise.  "You what? Why?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Just checking up on you I guess."

Ichigo's expression softened and pulled Grimmjow down into a kiss. "Thank you." He pulled away when he heard someone on the stairs and went to greet Renji when he saw it was him. "Hey."

Renji grinned. "Hey, what's up?"

Ichigo fixed him with a glare and pointed a finger threateningly at his friend. "Never, and I mean never, throw me a party again. I'm surprised this place is still standing and I sure as hell don't want a repeat of last night."

"What? When you almost got it on with a complete stranger?" Renji ducked as Ichigo threw a punch at him. "C'mon Ichigo, how's that my fault? Besides it doesn't matter, you got with Grimmjow in the end didn't you."

Ichigo snorted. "Yeah, luckily." He glanced at Grimmjow to see he was talking to Rukia. "Why didn't you tell me he was calling her?"

"I didn't know. I knew she was talking to someone, but she refused to tell me until last night. Probably for that exact reason, you know I would've told you if I knew."

"Yeah, I guess." Ichigo scratched his nose, flinching when Renji suddenly grabbed his wrist. "What?" He saw Renji looking at his ring and blushed, pulling his hand back and avoided the red heads gaze.

"Ichigo, are you two..."

He nodded and looked at his friend sheepishly. "Yes."

"Dude!" Ichigo flinched again and looked at Renji in shock to see he was frowning at him. "Not cool, me and Rukia should've been first!"

Ichigo bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. "Well you should've got a move on. Besides, have you asked Byakuya? He'll kill you if you don't."

"Not yet, I'm gunna."

"Going to what?" Rukia asked as she came over with Grimmjow.

Ichigo grinned as Renji tried to think of an excuse, glaring at him when he finally responded. "Look! Ichigo and Grimmjow are engaged!"

As Renji hoped, Rukia was thoroughly distracted. "What?" She asked excitedly, grabbing Ichigo's hand to look at the ring. "Wow, it's really pretty. Must've cost a lot."

Ichigo frowned, never realising that before and looked at Grimmjow. "She's right. How did you afford this?"

Grimmjow shrugged. "I had a job, saved up. How else do you think I got here? You really think my parents paid? That's why I was later than my birthday, had to save up."

"Jeeze that's rough." Rukia shook her head and let go of Ichigo's hand to smile brightly at them both. "Well I never thought this would happen, but congratulations."

"We gotta have-"

"No parties!" Ichigo glared at Renji who shut his mouth sheepishly. "No way, after last night I'm done for good."  He sighed and glanced at his watch. "We gotta go, my dad's expecting us."

"Good luck telling him!" Rukia called as they left and Ichigo scoffed.

"We need all the luck we can get." He looked up at Grimmjow and smiled softly. "So that's what took you so long to come back? You're parents are really against us huh?"

Grimmjow frowned in thought. "Well my dad definitely is, but I don't know about mum. She seems to have accepted that I love you so she's just dealing with it now." He looked down at Ichigo and grinned. "Doesn't matter anyway, I'm here now and I'm not leaving."

"Good, I would follow you anyway, even if it was to just beat the shit out of you for leaving in the first place." Ichigo smiled back and sighed as the clinic came into view. "Well here it goes, you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and pulled him off the path towards the clinic and opened the door slowly. "Hello?"

"In the kitchen Ichi-nii!"

He glanced at Grimmjow who nodded and followed him to the kitchen. When they went in, Ichigo saw Yuzu putting something in the oven. "What's that?"

She straightened up and smiled brightly. "Cake! Dad wanted to celebrate you and Grimmjow being together again. So we're having a family dinner." She came over and hugged him. "Word of warning dad is very excited."

Ichigo sighed and placed his hand on her head. "Thanks Yuzu. I can't wait for dinner."

She grinned and went to hug Grimmjow who smiled at her. "Hey kid, I've missed your cooking."

"We'll I'm going to spoil you tonight!" She shooed them from the kitchen so she could continue. Ichigo sighed and turned to look at Grimmjow.

"I'll tell them tonight, during dinner."

"Sounds good." Grimmjow wrapped and arm around his waist and pulled his body to his. "It's strange to be here again after being away for so long."

"Well you're not leaving again." Ichigo stood on his tiptoes to kiss him firmly. "You're stuck with me now."

"Urgh, please stop, I think I'm going to throw up."

Ichigo turned to scoff at Karin who was watching them from the doorway. "Then don't look."

She rolled her eyes and jerked her head at Grimmjow. "Good to see you blue."

"You too Karin." She returned to her football and Grimmjow looked at Ichigo in amusement. "I haven't been called 'blue' in a long time. Last time I heard that it was from you."

He shrugged in reply. "Guess I'm not the only one who thought of the nickname. Besides, me and Karin are both good at that kinda thing." He pulled on Grimmjow's hand and led him to the sofa, sitting down with a groan. "I wonder where dad is? He hasn't ambushed us yet."

Grimmjow shrugged, sitting down next to him and gently tugged on an orange lock. "Who cares, gives us more space."

Ichigo glanced at him, smiling when he moved to cup his cheek. "Haven't you had enough? I would've thought by now you would be tired of kissing me."

"Nope, not yet." He couldn't help but snort in reply before leaning forward to kiss him slowly, fisting Grimmjow's shirt in his hand to pull him closer. "Ichi, c'mon we gotta stop."

Ichigo looked at him with a sly smirk. "What's the problem? No-one's looking."

"Except your dad!" Ichigo jumped as Isshin suddenly appeared and grinned at them both. "You should know I'm always watching when you're under my roof!"

"Dad!" Ichigo yelled back indignantly, glaring at the older man. "What is your problem?"

"Nothing my darling son!" Isshin bounded into the room and grinned at them both. "I'm just glad to see you two back together." He looked at Grimmjow seriously. "Ichigo wasn't himself after you left, so I hope now things will be ok since you're back."

Ichigo blushed and hit his father roughly. "Shut up! I'm fine and I always was! Don't make me sound so pathetic!"

Yuzu came in before Ichigo could continue beating their father and frowned disapprovingly at them.  "Stop it you two, dinner ready and you won't get cake if you don't stop."

Ichigo paused and looked at her with a frown. "You wouldn't."

"Watch me." She stuck her tongue out and Ichigo groaned, stepping away from Isshin and she nodded. "Good. Now go sit down and I'll bring in the food."

Grimmjow watched amusedly as Ichigo sighed in defeat and trailed over to the table. He paused and turned to look at Grimmjow expectantly who sighed and got up to join him.

"Wouldn't want to miss out on cake would I?" Ichigo scoffed, a small smile tugging on his lips as he sat down and Grimmjow sat next to him. "I wasn't lying, I really missed Yuzu's cooking."

"Well she'll have gone all out today so you're in for a treat like she said." Ichigo lent  back in his seat and frowned thoughtfully. "I'm gunna miss her cooking when I leave."

"Leave? Where are you going?" Karin sat down and looked at him with a frown. "First I've heard of you leaving."

"It doesn't matter, I'll tell you later. For now let's just eat ok."

She eyed them both suspiciously for a moment before letting it drop, taking a plate from Yuzu. "Whatever."

Ichigo took the rest so Yuzu could go get the remaining plates and passed one to Grimmjow. He gave his father a warning look before handing him one and waiting until Yuzu returned for his.

"So Ichi-nii how was the party?"

Ichigo glanced at Grimmjow guiltily before replying. "Ok I suppose, we didn't stay long. Renji had the music jacked up way too high and I barely knew anyone." He shrugged and poked at the food. "This morning was definitely better."

Karin winkled her nose. "Eww. Way too much info."

"Shut up! I wasn't talking about that kinda thing."

"So what were you talking about?"

Ichigo hesitated and glanced at Grimmjow who shrugged. "They're your family."

Isshin looked between the two and frowned. "What aren't you telling us Ichigo?"

He sighed heavily and glanced at his left hand, pulling it back to rest on his lap. "Grimmjow asked me to marry him. I said yes." The table fell silent and Grimmjow reached to grasp Ichigo's hand under the table, smiling reassuringly at him.

"My darling son is getting married!"

They both jumped at Isshin's outburst and turned to look at him. "You're ok with it?" Ichigo asked hesitantly.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" He waved a hand dismissively, making Ichigo scowl. "As long as you don't end up hurt." He fixed Grimmjow with a steely gaze. "Understood?"

"Yes sir."

Ichigo snorted and grabbed his fork again. "Well now that's out of the way, let's eat I'm starving."

"Don't forget about the cake." Grimmjow added, making Ichigo nod in agreement.

"Like I would."


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24:

_*Two Weeks Later*_

Ichigo woke up and glanced at the clock, groaning when he saw it was only five and buried his head in the pillow. After ten minutes he turned to look at the ceiling and sighed. Today was results day and to say Ichigo was nervous was an understatement. Not that he needed top grades to study art at University, something he was thankful for since he wasn't the brightest crayon in the packet. He got good grades, but he hoped they were enough.

Sighing heavily, Ichigo ran a hand through his tousled hair and turned to look at Grimmjow who was still sleeping, his chest moving rhythmically as he breathed. Ichigo moved closer and placed a hand on his chest to feel his steady heartbeat and couldn't help but smile.

"You have no idea how lucky I feel when I wake up in the morning to see you next to me Grimmjow. I can't imagine anything but this and I don't want anything else. Thank you for coming back."

Leaning forward, he kissed Grimmjow softly as not to wake him before getting out of the bed quietly to make his way into the bathroom to shower. Returning to the bedroom he shook his head when he found Grimmjow hadn't moved an inch and sighed before collecting his clothes to change.

Padding outside to the kitchen, Ichigo started making breakfast. He'd spent almost every night since Grimmjow came back over at Nel's. If his father didn't get the hint by now then he never would. Ichigo still had to tell him officially, but that could wait. Ichigo shook his head at the scene Isshin would make when he found out his son was moving out and snorted to himself.

"What's so funny?"

Ichigo jumped and cursed before turning to glare at Nel. "Morning to you too. You're just as bad as Grimmjow, what is it with you two?"

She shrugged and opened the fridge. "Because you're such an easy target."

"Ha ha." He replied dryly before sitting down with his food and looking at her expectantly. "Well, what is it?"

"Hmm?"

He rolled his eyes and poked at the food. "You never wake up this early, so what is it?"

Nel paused and sighed before moving to sit next to him as look at him seriously. "Our parents are coming down today. Grimmjow doesn't know yet, I haven't told him."

Ichigo frowned in confusion. "Why?"

Waving a hand dismissively, Nel snorted. "You know how he gets. So if I was you I'd be ready for a meltdown. Just wait until they see that." She pointed at the ring on his finger and Ichigo blushed.

"So? They can't stop us. Besides, Grimmjow said your mother was warming up to the idea."

"Well, we'll soon find out." She grinned when Ichigo's face paled. "Cheer up Ichigo, me and Grimmjow are on your side, don't forget." She stood up to leave again but paused and turned to look at him with a bright smile. "Good luck today!"

"Thanks." Ichigo cradled his drink and sighed heavily. "Today is going to be a long day..."

"So you're nervous then?" He jumped, just managing to stop his drink spilling and turned to glare at Grimmjow, who was leaning on the bedroom doorframe looking at him. "What?"

Ichigo sighed and shook his head, returning to look at the drink. "Nothing."

Grimmjow sighed and moved to sit next to him, nudging his shoulder gently. "Idiot. We both know you're smart so stop your mindless worrying. You'll have the grades you need."

"That's not why I'm worried." Looking up at him, Ichigo hesitated before slowly telling him the bad news. "Nel told me your parents are coming down today."

As predicted, Grimmjow immediately stiffened and his expression darkened. "And you don't think to tell me?"

"Hey, she only told me five minutes ago." Ichigo held up his hands in surrendering gesture. "So what do you wanna do about it?"

Grimmjow sighed and ran a hand through his sleep tousled hair. "What can I do? Run away, no thanks." He stood up and held out a hand for Ichigo to take which he did after a moment's hesitation. "Anyway, it can wait until after we've gotten your results."

Ichigo made a face before leaning in to kiss him. "Thanks. Go get changed then so we can go, the sooner I get them, the better."

"M'kay."

Grimmjow trailed back into the bedroom, leaving Ichigo to clean up. He sighed when he'd finished and lent against the counter, waiting for Grimmjow to reappear. When he did, Ichigo grinned and went to his side, pulling him from the flat and he looked down at the orange head in surprise.

"A little eager aren't we?"

"I just want to get this over with. Lucky for you yours is coming in the post."

Grimmjow snorted, making Ichigo stop so he could lock the door before they left. "Lucky? I still have to wait for mine to appear. At least you get yours today."

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo tugged on his arm to make him speed up. "Whatever, let's just get there already."

They walked in silence to the school, Ichigo too nervous to speak and Grimmjow knew he was likely to snap at him if he tried to lighten the mood. When they saw Renji, he grinned and ran over, waving a piece of paper in his hands.

"Guess what? I got the grades!"

Grimmjow snorted and looked at Ichigo. "See, if pineapple can do it, so can you."

"He's right Ichigo." Renji paused to think about what he'd said, and frowned. "Hey, I'm not a pineapple."

"Keep telling yourself that. Just like Ichigo isn't a strawberry."

Ichigo glared at him, almost throwing a punch but instead, sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm surrounded by idiots." He shook his head at the questioning look he received from the two. "Just stay here, I'll be back in a minute."

Grimmjow gave his arm a reassuring squeeze and he smile gratefully before leaving so he turned back to Renji. "Where's Rukia then?"

He looked at him in surprise. "Since when is she Rukia, I thought you called her Kuchiki."

"Yeah well, that was before Ichigo. So you gunna answer my question or not?"

Renji huffed slightly, looking slightly offended. "She's on her way, Byakuya insisted on driving her."

"So you asked him yet?"

"What?"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes; the red head could be so dense when he wanted to. He was surprised the guy had got the grades to even get into University. "Duh, about proposing to Rukia dumbass."

He shook his head. "Hell no, I'm still very fond of my balls thank you."

"Nice, you're such a wimp."

"Oh right, so why did you say to Isshin then?"

"Nothing. I didn't ask permission, I just asked Ichigo. His answer was the only one that mattered so why was the point in asking his dad." He shrugged off Renji's reply when he opened his mouth. "Yeah, yeah, save it for someone else. I'm not about the traditional Japanese, besides, I'm German remember and it's not particularly common for people to do that anymore.

"Idiot."

"Oh right, I'm the idiot." Grimmjow shook his head and glanced at the school doors to see Ichigo coming out. "See you in a minute, there's Ichigo." Walking over to the orange head, Grimmjow frowned when he saw Ichigo's downcast face. "What is it? You didn't get the grades?"

He sighed heavily and Grimmjow was about to console him when he grinned widely and threw himself into Grimmjow's arms with a laugh, almost making them both fall on the floor. "'Course I did!"

Grimmjow sighed, but couldn't help but smile. "See, told you, no need to worry."

"Mmm." Ichigo looked up at him searchingly for a moment before leaning forward to kiss him. "Thanks."

"Yeah you better be. I've had to deal with your grumpy ass for a week now." 

Ichigo hit his arm half-heartedly before pulling away and going over to Renji to talk with him, Grimmjow following at a slower pace. By the time he'd got there, Ichigo was already saying goodbye and Rukia had just arrived. Grimmjow gave the two a short wave as Ichigo came over and try left. He frowned when Ichigo gave him an amused look.

"What?"

"You and my friends, I didn't think that would happen." He shrugged and his mouth twitched slightly as he held back a smirk. "It's hard to believe we all used to hate you and you us."

"Yeah well, shit happens."

"Shit?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow and the comment and turned to look at him. "Is that what I am?"

"Oh shut up, you know what I mean." Rolling his eyes, Grimmjow sighed and shook his head. "So you told your dad you're moving out yet?"

Ichigo snorted in response. "Yeah right. Give him time to get over the engagement first or he might have a heart attack." He paused, a grin forming on his face. "Actually, that might not be such a bad idea after all."

"You know you're actually some sort of demon in disguise right."

Ichigo just shrugged his grin still in place. "You know I have a violent side. How many times have we fought?"

"Too many to count." Grimmjow paused in thought, frowning slightly. "When was the last time we fought?"

"Dunno, a few weeks after we started sleeping together probably. Why?"

"This is gunna sound kinda bad. But, I kinda miss it."

Ichigo looked at him in amusement. "You think I don't? Sure I don't miss the bruises but I do miss the rush, the excitement of it. You're the only one who can actually put up a good fight against me."

"Well then, it's a date. I'll persuade Urahara to lend me the dojo for the night sometime soon."

Ichigo couldn't help but smirk, his eyes bright with excitement when he looked at Grimmjow. "How's this going to end?"

"Either with both of us pissed off, or sex. I'm hoping for the second option."

"Yeah, I agree with you on that." Ichigo frowned when Grimmjow stopped suddenly. "What?"

"Look at that." Grimmjow left him on the path, venturing down a small alley where he saw a cardboard box and he could hear small mewls coming from it. "I think there's a cat in it."

Ichigo sighed and followed him over. Crouching in front of the box next to him, Ichigo peered inside and saw a small white kitten curled up in the corner, mewling quietly. He looked at Grimmjow in surprise when he scooped the kitten out and cradled her gently.

"You can't be serious." He asked in disbelief and Grimmjow frowned at him.

"It's a kitten Ichigo, and it's obviously been abandoned. You wanna leave it here to die?"

"No."

"Well then. Let's go home and find her something to eat." Grimmjow marched towards the path, Ichigo following helplessly. He scowled at the kitten on the way back, hissing quietly when she looked at him and smirked. Yeah, it smirked, Ichigo was sure of it.

They paused outside the flat door and Grimmjow frowned. "Hey Ichi think you grab my keys, I can't get to them."

"Sure, where are they?"

"Back right pocket." Ichigo sighed but dug his fingers in the indicated pocket and pulled out the keys to unlock the door. "Thanks."

He set the keys on the side and followed Grimmjow into the other, eyeing the kitten warily when it was set on the table so Grimmjow could rummage in the fridge and drawers. He finally found can of tuna which he prepared for the kitten, who ate it in seconds before mewling and looking at him expectantly for more.

Grimmjow chuckled and stroked it affectionately. "I think we're going to needed to buy a few things for you. Mainly cat food by the looks of it, you sure seem hungry."

Ichigo eyes widened in horror. "You're not seriously thinking of keeping that thing." He asked incredulously, not believing Grimmjow could actually care about the white fluff ball on the table.

Grimmjow frowned at him and scooped it into his arms. "Of course. Obviously no-one wanted her or she wouldn't be on the streets. I'll take care of her."

"I can't believe this." Ichigo muttered in disbelief. "I must've gone insane."

"Ha, I can't believe you're jealous."

"I am not jealous!" Ichigo yelled, giving him an indignant look. "Why would I be jealous of that fur ball?!"

"Great, so you don't mind me keeping her then." Grimmjow smirked when Ichigo started to get flustered.

"Fine! But I'm not cleaning up after it! No way in hell!"

"That's cool, I'll get her house trained, don't you worry." He looked at the kitten and held her out to observe her. "So what should I call you?"

"How about fur ball?"

Ichigo muttered the words and Grimmjow ignored them before he smiled. "Pantera."

Ichigo scoffed. "Pantera, seriously?"

The cat meowed and rubbed again Grimmjow's chest, making the man grin. "See, she likes it. So that's settled, I'll call you Pantera."

Ichigo shook his head and went to sit on the sofa, leaving Grimmjow to pander to his new pet. Hearing the front door open, he saw it was Nel. "Hey."

She looked at him and smiled. "Hey, my parents here yet?"

"Nope, but Grimmjow adopted a new member to our lively family."

She frowned in confusion before going into the kitchen ad Ichigo heard her squeal. "Wow! What an adorable kitten! Can we keep him?!" Ichigo groaned and smacked himself with the cushion.

"Stupid cat."


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25:

Ichigo sat on the sofa and his frown deepened every time Nel squealed in delight at the kitten or Grimmjow laughed. He just didn't see what was so adorable about it. Yeah, it was a small, white fuzzy kitten, so what?

He looked up when Nel came back in and she grinned at him. "Isn't she just so adorable?"

"Yeah, I guess."

Nel rolled her eyes at Ichigo's less than enthusiastic tone. "You'll come around eventually, looks like she's here to stay. Anyway, I'm off out to grab some things for her." Nel opened the door and called over her shoulder as he left. "Have fun with our parents!"

Ichigo groaned. "Damn, I was better off forgetting Nel!"

"Better off forgetting what?" Grimmjow asked, walking into the room to sit next to him and frowned in confusion.

Ichigo sighed and shook his head. "About your parents." He looked at Grimmjow and frowned. "Where's the fur ball?"

"She has a name." Grimmjow chuckled and slung an arm over the orange haired teens shoulder, placing a kiss to his temple. "And it's really cute that you're jealous." He winced when Ichigo elbowed him in the ribs and stood up with a huff, walking into the bedroom without a backwards glance.

Ichigo sighed heavily and pulled his jumper off, his shirt and tie soon following before he started hunting for a shirt. Even after practically moving in with Grimmjow, he still hadn't adopted the ability to be clean. Finally finding a clean one, Ichigo pulled it on before changing his trousers and joining Grimmjow again.

He sat down next to him and scoffed when he saw Pantera curled up on his lap. "Fur ball."

Grimmjow glanced at him and grinned, leaning towards the pouting teen to kiss him and was pleased to see the pout disappear afterwards. "Does she really bother you that much?"

Ichigo shifted uncomfortably and shrugged. "I dunno, just never had a pet so I don't see the point. You have to fork out so much money for stupid shit and what do you get in return? Affection?"

"Mmm, but it's worth it." Hearing a knock on the door, Grimmjow stood and dropped Pantera in Ichigo's arms and grinned at the face Ichigo pulled. "Pet her for a bit."

Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he followed Grimmjow's process across the room before sighing and looking at Pantera who was sat looking at him expectantly. "Hey." _Damn this is stupid; I'm talking to a cat. Now I've gotta try and make friends with the damn thing._ He slowly scratched behind one of her ears, sighing in relief when she purred and curled up on him. "Well, I guess you're not too bad…"

He looked up when Grimmjow shut the door, stiffening when he saw he wasn't alone. Grimmjow gave Ichigo a small smile before looking at his parents again. "You remember Ichigo."

"Yes." His father just looked at him whilst his mother nodded, not altogether hostile which made him feel that tiny bit better.

Ichigo cleared his throat and stood up, glancing at Grimmjow. "I should go clean up my stuff, and then I should probably go."

Grimmjow frowned, following him into the bedroom to leave his parents to settle in. "Where are you going?"

He sighed and sat on the bed, looking at Grimmjow with a small smile. "I don't want to intrude, besides, I'm pretty sure they weren't expecting me here and probably don't want me here either."

"So what?" Grimmjow moved to sit next to him and grabbed one of his hands. "You shouldn't care what they think. Besides, you live here dumbass so you're not leaving. They have to get used to you, simple." He ran a finger over Ichigo's ring. "And they need to know about this."

"Mmm." Ichigo cupped his cheek and kissed him softly. "Fine, but this isn't going to end well, is it?"

"Nope, I doubt it will."

He chuckled before standing up and smiling at Grimmjow. "Thanks, I guess."

"You're, welcome, now c'mon, they'll be waiting for us."

He grabbed Ichigo's hand again and led him from the bedroom to find his parents on the sofa and Pantera lapping up the attention. His mother turned to look at him and smiled. "When did you get her? She's so sweet?"

Grimmjow grinned and dragged Ichigo over so they could sit on the adjacent sofa. "Today, found her abandoned in an alleyway so deciding to bring her home with us." He glanced at Ichigo and smiled proudly. "We went to get Ichi's results from school."

"Oh, how was that?"

She looked at Ichigo who was glad for her making the effort and managed his own small smile. "I got the grades to get into University."

"What are you planning to study?"

"Art."

Grimmjow's father scoffed at the statement and Grimmjow frowned at him. "Is something wrong with that?"

"Art is a subject for those who limit themselves, those who can't achieve." He looked at Ichigo who flinched at the cold look. "People beneath your status Grimmjow."

Grimmjow opened his mouth to argue, but Ichigo beat him to it. "You're wrong." He said quietly, gaining everyone's attention. "I chose to do Art because I like it, if I wanted to, I could've been a doctor. But Art is something I want to do, so don't belittle me or think I'm incapable of achieving. I'm perfectly capable of being who and what I want to be."

He stopped suddenly and frowned, closing his mouth before looking down at his knees and Grimmjow couldn't help but grin proudly at him for speaking up like that. His father was looking at him in sheer surprise and he could see his mother was trying not to laugh. Thankfully for them all before an argument could break out, Nel came in, her hands full of bags stuffed with an assortment of cat essentials and treats.

"Hey, can someone help me out here?" Ichigo stood and took the bags form her silently, taking them into the kitchen. "Uh, thanks Ichigo?" She looked at her brother and parents and frowned. "What happened?"

Grimmjow grinned. "Ichigo spoke up for himself."

"That boy needs to learn his place."

Grimmjow rolled his eyes at the comment before waving it off. "Whatever dad, you just weren't expecting him to do it. Word of warning, Ichigo can be fiery when he wants to so don't provoke him. He's the guy I always got into trouble fighting when we were younger." He laughed at his face when he told him that. "Guess I forgot to mention that huh?"

Shaking his head in amusement, Grimmjow went into the kitchen to find Ichigo taking everything out the bags and observing them carefully. He paused when he saw Grimmjow and sighed heavily before setting the box down. "Hey."

"Hey." He walked over to the younger teen and pulled him into his arms, kissing him quickly. "Damn that was good, you should've seen his face when you finished. And when I told him we used to fight, too damn funny."

Ichigo blushed and grasped the front of Grimmjow's shirt. "Sorry, I let him get the better of me. You don't think I overstepped it do you?"

"Overstepped? Nah, dad just thinks you're someone who can't do something with their life. It was a shock for him to realise you actually have an idea of what you're doing, that's all." Grimmjow nuzzled his hair and smiled. "Don't be afraid to speak out Ichi, the more you do it, the sooner he'll respect you."

Ichigo snorted at the statement. "Yeah right, I'd like to see that happen." He sighed and stepped out of Grimmjow's arms to throw a cat toy at him. "Help me put this shit somewhere suitable."

"Can do."

When they were done, Ichigo groaned and collapsed on the sofa, happy to ignore everyone in favour of rolling his aching shoulder. He opened an eye when Grimmjow sat next to him and smiled when he was pulled closer, resting his head on Grimmjow's chest. He dozed happily, fading in and out of the conversation but never heard anything directed at him so found no need to join in.

He yawned and grasped Grimmjow's shirt. "Grimm…"

"Yeah Ichi?"

Ichigo sighed and sat up straighter, blinking several times to clear his vision and when he did, he found all eyes were on him and blushed. "What?"

"What's that on your hand?" It was Grimmjow's mother who asked as she leant forward and frowned slightly.

Ichigo stiffened and looked at his hand lying innocently on Grimmjow's chest and cursed himself when he saw it was his left hand and his ring was now on full display for everyone to see. "It's a, umm… ring?"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. "It's an engagement ring, I proposed and Ichi said yes obviously."

The silence that ensued made Ichigo shift uncomfortably under the heavy weight. He pulled his hand back and hid it from view, flinching when Grimmjow suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled it out again, giving him a questioning look. Ichigo shook his head and pulled his hand back, quickly covering it again and Grimmjow frowned, opening his mouth to ask what was wrong but his father spoke over him.

"Engaged?" His asked in disbelief, looking between the two. "Surely you're joking."

"Nope." Grimmjow shook his head. "We are and we will get married, at some point." He looked at Ichigo questioningly. "Right?"

"Sure."

He frowned at the murmur, but before he could ask why his father stood up abruptly. "This is preposterous. You want to marry that kid? Have you lost your mind?!"

Grimmjow scowled and stood up as well. "No, this is probably the most sensible thing I've ever done. You just can't get over yourself and see how great Ichigo is!"

"How dare you speak to me like that, I am your father!"

"And I'm your son!" Grimmjow sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't care what you think, I'm marrying Ichigo, and you can't stop us."

"Grimmshaw." Grimmjow's mother stood and placed a hand on the enraged man's arm gently. "Can't you accept this? It's too late to stop it, just let them be."

The man looked like he was about to explode but exhaled slowly and sank bank into the chair. "You're right, nothing to do now. Let him make his own mistakes." He muttered to himself as his wife sat down next to him again.

Grimmjow snorted. "Mistakes, yeah whatever." He sighed and sat down next to Ichigo and went to touch him but Ichigo stood abruptly and brushed him away.

"Excuse me."

He left the room, shutting the door to their bedroom quietly behind him before sinking onto the bed with a heavy sigh and cradling his head in his hands. Grimmjow's father's reaction had shaken him, he didn't realise someone could be so against them, so angered by their relationship. Was he really making the right choice?

He was jerked from his thoughts when the door opened and Grimmjow slipped in, shutting the door before walking over to him and crouched in front of him. "What's wrong?"

Ichigo sighed and looked down at his hands, twirling his ring gently. "I… don't know if this is right."

"What?"

"Us…" Ichigo looked at Grimmjow and bit his lip. "Is this right? How can it be when your dad hates me? Do we really stand a chance?"

He flinched when he was suddenly pushed back on the bed and Grimmjow knelt over him, glaring at him furiously. "Shut up Ichigo. Don't you ever say that, do you understand? You said yes because you wanted to. My fucking father's opinion has nothing to do with us. I don't care about what he thinks, neither should you. If you want to be with me, great, but if you don't, don't use him as a damn excuse to chicken out. I thought you were better than that."

Ichigo shivered and looked down, ashamed by what he'd said. _I do love him; I do want to be with him, why am I letting his father come between us, that's ridiculous._ "I'm sorry."

Grimmjow sighed and cupped his cheek. "Idiot, don't say shit like that, please."

"M'kay." Ichigo sat up and kissed Grimmjow slowly, his hands grasping his shirt tightly. "I really am sorry, I do love you, and I do want to marry you. Please don't think otherwise."

"I won't." Grimmjow sighed and pulled Ichigo into his arms. "Ready to go back out?"

Ichigo tightened his grip on his shirt and shook his head. "Not yet."

"Ok, we'll stay in here as long as you need."

He nodded and settled in Grimmjow's arms with a sigh. "I love you."

"I love you too Ichi."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

Ichigo lifted his head and looked at Grimmjow searchingly. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, why?"

"You seemed pretty pissed off when I said I wasn't sure, I just wanted to know if you still were."

Grimmjow sighed and rubbed Ichigo's hips soothingly, making the younger teen shiver but relax in his arms. "No, I'm not. I was just annoyed you let my dad get the better of you. I'm fine now."

Ichigo smiled into his chest before lifted his head to kiss Grimmjow. "I'm sure, your dad won't come between us, ever."

"Good." Grimmjow smiled, making Ichigo blush and duck his head again. "What?"

"Nothing, I just like your smile." Ichigo muttered the words quietly, Grimmjow barely catching them and when he did, he smirked.

"Really?" When he felt Ichigo nod he cradled the blushing teen's cheeks to lift his head. "Well I like your blush, it makes you look very cute."

That of course made Ichigo scowl, which Grimmjow found even more adorable but chose not to tell him that. "Idiot, stop calling me cute."

"Stop being cute then."

Ichigo huffed and shoved his chest, effectively making them both fall back on the bed and he leaned over Grimmjow, resting on his elbows to glare at the man. "You are annoying."

"But you love me for it."

"Somehow." He sighed and shook his head. "How the hell this happened, I don't know." Catching sight of Grimmjow's frown, he grinned and kissed him quickly. "But I'm glad it did, very glad."

Grimmjow nodded, his frown disappearing as he threaded one hand in Ichigo's hair to pull him into another kiss whilst the other grasped Ichigo's hip. The younger teen moaned softly before pulling away suddenly and Grimmjow frowned again.

"What?"

Ichigo blushed and shook his head. "Idiot, your parents are outside! How is having sex now supposed to solve things?"

"It's not, but it'll make us feel better." Grimmjow flipped their positions and knelt over Ichigo. "I know you want to."

"Doesn't mean we should." Ichigo smiled apologetically when Grimmjow groaned and back off. "If it were any other time, you know I would've said yes."

"Yeah, I know." Grimmjow sighed and grabbed Ichigo's hand, pulling him towards the door. "Let's go back out then, they'll be wondering what we're doing by now."

"Probably thinking we're having sex."

"Which we almost were." Grimmjow snorted and turned to smile at Ichigo, kissing him firmly before opening the door and leading him back outside into the living room. "Hey." He said, gaining their attention as they sat down again. "What we miss?"

Nel grinned at them both. "Nothing really, I ordered pizza and it should arrive in a couple of minutes."

"Cool, thanks."

Ichigo nodded at her, careful to not draw attention to himself and was thankful when the topic didn't return to him so he could sit quietly and relax. When the door rang Ichigo was the one to get up and answer it, thanking Nel when she handed him the money and took the pizzas. Dinner was a relatively quiet event, something Ichigo was also thankful for as he'd had enough of being the centre of attention for the day. He glanced at Grimmjow and laughed, making him frown at him.

"What?"

Ichigo smiled softly and grabbed a tissue to wipe and his cheek gently. "You have sauce on your face."

"Oh, thanks." Grimmjow caught his arm as he pulled away, pulling him back to kiss him. He chuckled when he pulled away to see Ichigo blushing furiously. "If I didn't know any better, I would've thought you have sauce on your cheeks." He cradled Ichigo's burning cheeks and grinned at him.

Ichigo rolled his eyes and broke free of Grimmjow's hold to sit comfortably, trying to ignore the eyes on them both. "Idiot." He muttered softly, but couldn't help the small twitch of his lips when Grimmjow laughed again. Nel glanced at her parents and gave them a knowing look before returning to her food.

Ichigo, seeing the unheard conversation cleared his throat and stood up, taking his plate into the kitchen. He sighed and lent against the counter, jumping when he was pulled back to someone's chest and they kissed his head.

"You ok Ichi?"

Ichigo relaxed and hummed in affirmative, leaning back into the embrace. "Fine, just tired."

Grimmjow kissed his shoulder and grinned. "Wanna go to bed? I can think of something to keep you awake."

Ichigo snorted, elbowing Grimmjow in the stomach before pulling away to scowl at him as he rubbed his stomach. "Get your head out of the gutter Grimm, we're not having sex." With that he left the room, returning to sit on the sofa and frowned at Pantera when she jumped up. "I am not petting you, go find Grimmjow." The cat eyed him for a moment before huffing and stalking off and Ichigo resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at the retreating animal. He caught sight of Nel grinning at him and blushed. "What?"

"I can see you two are getting along."

"Mmm. Well it wasn't my choice to take her, but she makes Grimmjow happy so I guess I can deal with it." Ichigo sighed and ran a hand through his hair, pausing when he saw Grimmjow's mother looking at him and blushed. "What?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Nothing, I can see you care deeply about my son."

"Of course I do. I wouldn't be here if I didn't." Ichigo's blush deepened when Grimmjow sat down next to him and smirked. "I love him, more than anything."

"Love ya too Ichi." Grimmjow caught his hand and entwined their fingers, kissing the back of his hand.

Ichigo looked down and blushed, curling up next to him with a heavy sigh. "Idiot." He muttered and closed his eyes, falling asleep with a smile.

Grimmjow sighed and ran his free hand through his orange hair, his other hand still clasped by the sleeping man. He looked up at his parents and smiled. "See, me and Ichigo are real, this is it for me. No-one else will do, ever."

Nel grinned proudly at her younger brother and stood up and stretched. "Well I'm off to bed, are you ok in the spare room?" She asked her parents and sighed when they nodded before leaving. "See you tomorrow."

Grimmjow took that as his que to leave as well and stood up before scooping Ichigo into his arms. "I'm off too then, see you in the morning." He cradled Ichigo carefully when opening the door before lying him on the bed, smiling softly and cradled his cheek when he stirred and opened one eye to look around confused.

"What-"

"Shh Ichi. Don't worry, go back to sleep." He nodded and nuzzled Grimmjow's hand before sighing and falling asleep again. Stripping the sleeping man to his boxers, Grimmjow paused and admired the view for a moment before covering him with the sheets and stripping down too, climbing in next to him.

Grimmjow grabbed his book, deciding he wasn't that tired and started reading. After a few chapters, he paused when Ichigo whimpered and rolled over. He watched as the teen but his lip and groaned, fisting the bed sheets and raised an eyebrow at the odd action. When spotting the noticeably large tent under the covers, he smirked at the flushed teen.

"Damn Ichi, that better be me you're dreaming about."

Ichigo moaned at the sound of his voice, arching off the bed slightly. "G-grimm!"

"Good boy." Grimmjow close the book and his smirked widened, it was just too tempting to pass up on the offer. How often would Ichigo have a wet dream about him? "Ichigo..." He murmured the name into his ear, making him shudder and moan again.

"More..."

"Baby I haven't done anything yet."

"Please..." Ichigo grasped his shoulders and lifted himself up to press their bodies together. "Grimmjow!"

Grimmjow's eyes closed at the call of his name. _Damn Ichi, you're just too fucking sexy. If you're not careful, I'm going to take this further than I really should._ "Ichigo if you want the real thing, time to wake up."

He shook the man slightly and he jerked before stiffening and falling limp in his arms. After a moment he groaned and lifted his head, looking at Grimmjow in confusion. "Huh?"

"What, surprised we're not going at it yet? How far were we?"

Ichigo blushed and pulled out of his arms to rub at his face. "I was dreaming, wasn't I?"

"Yup."

He groaned again and buried his head in the pillow, shaking his head when Grimmjow touched him. "Go away!" Grimmjow chuckled before grabbing the edge of Ichigo's boxers and took them off, throwing them somewhere in the room, making Ichigo squeak and roll over to glare at him. "What are you doing?!"

"Giving you the real thing." He lent over the blushing teen and kissed him. "No dream can justify real life Ichi, let me remind you of that."

Ichigo shuddered and bit his lip, nodding shyly as he wrapped his arms around Grimmjow's neck. "Show me then."

...

Rangiku sat up and looked at Grimmshaw, her husband. "I'm going to get a drink, do you want one?"

He stopped reading and looked at her, shaking his head. "No thanks."

"Ok, I'll be back in a minute."

Kissing his cheek, she got up and left the room, making her way into the kitchen. Pouring a glass of water, she paused when she heard a groan and set the glass down. Hearing another noise, curiosity got the better of her and she followed the noise to Grimmjow's bedroom and hesitated before cracking the door open slightly.

Rangiku's eyes widened when she saw Grimmjow leaning over Ichigo who was shaking and had his head buried in a pillow. "What's wrong Ichi?"

"D-don't fucking tease me!"

Grimmjow chuckled and ran his hand down Ichigo's back, thankfully the rest of their bodies covered by the sheets. "You're no fun. Why are you hiding your face?"

Ichigo lifted himself to turn his head and glare at him. "Because I don't want everyone to know what we're doing!" He clamped hand over his mouth and moaned, burying his head in the pillow again. "G-grimmjow!"

Rangiku closed the door quietly and shook her head, rubbing at her eyes to erase the image. There was some things you didn't need to see, her son having sex being one of them. Grabbing her drink, she went back into her room and sat down,

Grimmshaw looked at her and frowned when he saw her blank face. "Is everything ok?"

She blinked and shook her head, smiling at him reassuringly. "Fine dear, nothing to worry about." She smiled when he returned to his book. He was just about accepting of Ichigo, the last thing he needed to know about was what was happening in the other room right now.

...

Grimmjow chuckled and kissed Ichigo's shoulder and he hummed happily in response. "Better than your dream?"

"So much better..." Ichigo sighed in satisfaction and rolled over to smile sleepily at Grimmjow. "I love you."

He rolled his eyes in response and kissed him. "Love you too."

"Grimm?"

"Yeah?"

Ichigo frowned and peeked up at him. "Promise you'll be with me forever."

He raised an eyebrow at the odd question before kissing his head. "Of course I will, why do you ask?"

He sighed in content and nuzzled his head to Grimmjow's chest. "Just checking."

"Idiot, I will always be here until the day you send me away.” He paused and smiled at Ichigo who was looking at him with a frown. “You, are my only, never forget that.”

Ichigo's frown melted into a heart breaking smile that very few had ever seen. “I will never send you away.” He shifted to kiss Grimmjow firmly. “Never.”

“Good.” Wrapping an arm around Ichigo's waist, he flipped the orange head onto his back and grinned at his shocked expression. “So do I only get one round or what?”

Ichigo chuckled and ran his hands through Grimmjow’s hair. “You’re insatiable, you know that right?”

“Only when it comes to you.” Grimmjow kissed him again, resting their foreheads together briefly. “You’re too damn sexy.”

He rolled his eyes in response before grinning. “Then hurry your ass up, I’m waiting here you know.”

Grimmjow laughed and shook his head. “And you call me insatiable?”


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

Ichigo woke up to the blinding sunlight on his face and groaned, rolling over to hide in the dark covers. “You’re awake then?” He peeked out of the covers to see Grimmjow lower his book and look at him with a smile. “Took your time.”

“Urgh, go away.” Ichigo buried his head again, but couldn’t help but smile when Grimmjow ran a hand through his hair. “What time is it?”

“About seven.”

“How is this late?” He groaned and rolled over to look at Grimmjow with a frown and he chuckled.

“You’re usually up by now.” He watched as Ichigo sat up and stretched, the covers pooling around his waist, something he could admit was a nice sight. “Put some clothes on Ichi, you’re too tempting like that.”

Ichigo paused and frowned before glancing down and blushed, quickly pulling the covers back up and scowled at Grimmjow. “Stop looking then.”

“Like I can.” Grimmjow smirked when Ichigo's blush deepened. “What? It’s not like I haven’t seen it before.”

“Yeah, I know.” Ichigo sighed and lent towards him, kissing him quickly before getting changed. “I can’t believe you roped me into sleeping with you last night.”

“How was that my fault? You were the one dreaming about it, remember?” Grimmjow caught his arm and pulled him onto the bed. “Besides, you weren’t complaining last night.”

“Mmm.” Ichigo lifted his head to kiss him, tangling his fingers in his hair as he did. “I need a drink, you want one?” He murmured, pulling away to grin at his lover who frowned at the sudden withdrawal.

“No, I’m good. I’d much rather you stay in bed with me a bit longer.”

Ichigo rolled his eyes. “Too bad, I’m up now. Be back in a minute.” Kissing him again, Ichigo got up and left to grab himself a drink. Grabbing a cup, he turned the kettle on and yawned, running a hand though his hair to straighten out the mess.

“Good morning.”

Ichigo jumped, just managing to steady his cup and whirled around, stopping himself from yelling when he saw it was Grimmjow’s mother. “Uhh… morning.” He smiled nervously and cleared his throat. “Do you want a drink?”

“No, I’m fine.” She smiled and sat down at the table as Ichigo turned around back to his drink to finish making it. Sitting down opposite her, he looked at the drink and sighed, rubbing his neck when he felt her eyes on him. “Ichigo?”

“Yes?” He looked up at her to see she was looking at him curiously and blushed, gripping his cup tighter.

“You and Grimmjow.” She leant forward and looked at him more seriously. “Do you really love him?”

Ichigo frowned in confusion at the strange question. “Of course I do, why else would I be here?” He sighed heavily and looked down at his drink, murmuring his next words softly. “I’ve never loved anyone like this and I never will again. It’s only Grimmjow.”

She nodded in satisfaction and stood up, Ichigo watching warily as she came closer and flinched slightly when she touched his head and sighed. “Grimmjow really does love you, I can see that. Which means I’m ok with your relationship, Grimmshaw will come around eventually. Please don’t hurt him.” With that, she left and Ichigo exhaled slowly, releasing his grip on the cup.

Looking at his reflection in the liquid, he frowned before shaking his head. “Well it’s nice that someone likes me I guess.” Finishing the drink, he put the cup in the sink and stretched, turning around when the bedroom door opened and Grimmjow came out. Walking over to him, Ichigo grinned and touched his damp hair before kissing him quickly. “I think I’m gunna have a shower too.”

“Damn Ichi, should’ve said something then we could’ve took one together.”

“And we both know how that would’ve ended.”

Grimmjow smirked and wrapped an arm around his waist to pull him closer. “What? I was thinking about conserving water, I don’t know what you’re implying.” Lowering his head, he kissed Ichigo firmly who moaned quietly and pressed closer to him. “I actually don’t mind taking another.”

Ichigo scoffed and stepped away from him with a wry smile. “Not gunna happen Grimm.” He patted Grimmjow’s cheek when he huffed before going into the bedroom with a shake of his head.

Grimmjow sighed and watched him go before making himself something to eat and sat down with a groan. He glanced up when Nel walked in and frowned when she gave him a dirty look. “What?” he asked around a mouthful of food.

“You two last night, don’t think I didn’t hear. Did you forget I was next door?” She sighed and sat down next to him, shoving his arm none to gently. “Here was me thinking you’d give it a rest for a night since our parents are here. Guess I’m not that lucky huh?”

Grimmjow snorted and finished his mouthful before responding. “Please, just because they’re here doesn’t mean we have to stop. Ichigo was being quiet, how’d you know?”

“The bed dumbass, if it hits the wall, I’m gunna hear it.” She shook her head and looked at him in disbelief. “I’m gunna regret asking this, and I know you’re only eighteen, but seriously, every night? Can’t you control yourselves?”

“Nope, definitely not.” Grimmjow smirked at the look he received. “Ichigo's just too damn sexy.” He raised an eyebrow when she scoffed. “How can you deny that? Have you looked at him?”

“Yes, I have.” She paused and looked away from Grimmjow. “He is good looking.”

“And you don’t know the half of it.” Grimmjow concluded, and nodded in satisfaction. “That’s why.” He stood up and winked at Nel. “Just for that I’m gunna go find him now.”

She rolled her eyes. “Ichigo, thankfully has morals so I doubt you’re getting anything from him.”

“He’s in the shower so don’t sound so confident.”

“Eww, just go already!” Nel shooed him away and sighed, rubbing her head. “The sooner they move out, the better, I miss sleeping.”

Grimmjow cracked open the bathroom door and grinned when he heard the shower still running. Creeping into the room, he snuck over to the shower and knocked on the door, almost laughing when he heard a squeak of surprise from inside.

“G-Grimmjow?!” Ichigo's voice rose out over the noise of the shower and he grinned.

“Who else?”

The shower was turned off and the door jerked open and Ichigo stuck his head out, his hair plastered to his face as he scowled at Grimmjow. “What the hell?! I told you no, so go away!”

“Aww c’mon Ichigo, who said I’m here to get some?”

“So what are you here for?” Ichigo paused and poked him in the chest. “Make it quick because I’m getting cold here.”

Grimmjow caught the hand and kissed the palm, pleased when Ichigo sucked in a breath and blushed. “I was just talking to Nel when I realised something.”

“What?”

“I am completely and utterly in love with you Ichigo.” He pulled on Ichigo’s hand, surprise when he willingly stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel to wrap around him. “I want to marry you, soon. I want you to be mine.”

Ichigo shivered, but smiled up at him. “Idiot, I am yours.” He wrapped his arms around Grimmjow’s neck and kissed him softly. “But I do want to marry you too, soon sounds good.”

“But first, we gotta get our own place. Nel is tired of staying up at night listening to us have sex.” He laughed as Ichigo groaned in embarrassment and his face flushed. “When we get our own place, you can be as loud as you want.”

“Oh shut up!” Ichigo pulled out his arms and left the bathroom with a huff, shutting the door roughly behind him. “I can hear you laughing!” He yelled, cursing himself for being in love with such a man before changing into more appropriate attire and yanking the bathroom door open again. “Well?”

“Well what?” Grimmjow leant against the sink and raised an eyebrow at him. “You were the one who left, you really get embarrassed when I talk about sex don’t you?”

“No I don’t!”

“So go on, prove it.” Grimmjow smirked and pushed away from the sink to pull Ichigo into his arms, nuzzling the side of his head. “Tell me what you like.”

Ichigo blushed heavily but shook his head. “Shut up idiot, I’m not saying anything.”

“See, too innocent.”

Ichigo scowled before sighing heavily and shaking his head. “I, um… like it when I’m on top…” He muttered quietly, gripping Grimmjow’s shirt tightly.

“Mmm, why’s that?”

“B-because you’re more vocal” Ichigo peeked up at him and smiled shyly. “And I get to control the pace.”

Grimmjow chuckled and stroked Ichigo's hair affectionately. “Yeah, I have noticed you look like you’re enjoying it most in that position.” Chuckling, he kissed Ichigo and nuzzled their noses together. “See, it’s not that bad.”

“Shut up, I am not doing this again, understand?”

“Yes sir.” He did a mock salute and Ichigo scoffed, linking their fingers together to pull Grimmjow outside into the main room.

“Come on then, let’s go look at flats so we can get some privacy.”

…

Grimmjow watched as Ichigo shook his head again and sighed, following him out of the fourth flat they’d visited that day, and they’d been looking for two weeks now. After they left, Grimmjow sighed as they got into the car and looked at Ichigo questioningly. “Aren’t you being just a little put picky?”

Ichigo scoffed and looked at him seriously. “This place is gunna be our home Grimmjow, I want it to feel like one. Be honest, has any of these places felt like somewhere you want to live?”

“I guess not…”

“Well there you go.” Ichigo sighed and grasped Grimmjow’s hand, squeezing it tightly. “We’ll know it when we see it, I know that much for sure. We’ve just gotta find it first.”

Grimmjow sighed in defeat at Ichigo’s eager face and groaned, starting the car. “C’mon then, we’ve got one more place to look at today. Then we can stop, this is tiring.”

“Sounds good.” They lapsed into silence on the way there, being led into the flat by the estate agent and after a quick inspection, Ichigo turned and grinned at Grimmjow who sighed in relief. “This is it.”

“You sure?”

“Definitely.”

Grimmjow nodded and pulled Ichigo into a hug when he laughed. Resting his head on Ichigo's, he smiled, it was a nice flat. Not in the roughest neighbourhood so it was unlikely they would get robbed, but bad enough that he was grateful Ichigo knew how to take care of himself. Being on the receiving end of Ichigo's kicks himself, he knew how much damage the teen could do. The flat was small, but not cramped, two bedrooms and one main bathroom with a spaciousness living area and open kitchen.

Ichigo pulled away and started tugging Grimmjow down the hallway. “This is our room.” He led him into the larger room and swept his arms out, grinning widely. “Great isn’t it?”

“Definitely, and the other room?”

“For my art, I need a separate room. Definitely if the fur ball is joining us.” Ichigo shuddered at the thought. “I need to lock my work away tightly.” Ichigo, over the past few weeks had gotten some offers for projects, not the most well paid jobs, but it was a start.

“Great, let’s go tell the estate agent then.” Grimmjow grabbed his hand and pulled him out of their soon to be room with a grin.

After sorting out the finer details, the deposit paid for, mostly with Grimmjow’s saved money which Ichigo swore he would pay back since he didn’t have much money at the moment. They were told they could move in by the end of the week, something Ichigo was really excited about.

When they left, Ichigo was practically bouncing in his seat as they returned to Nel’s, and couldn’t keep the smile off his face. As they went inside, Nel took one look at Ichigo and sent Grimmjow an amused look.

“What’s with him?” She asked as Ichigo kissed Grimmjow quickly before going into their room, Grimmjow presuming he was going to start packing.

He grinned and ran a hand through his hair. “We just bought a flat, Ichigo's pretty excited about it, as you can see.”

Nel squealed and hugged him hard, grinning up at him. “Congratulations! When can you move in?”

“By the end of the week. It’s gunna take a few days, but it was pretty easy actually.” Grimmjow shrugged and glanced up as his parents came over, probably attracted by Nel’s squeal.

“What’s going on?”

Nel turned to them both. “Grimmjow and Ichigo just bought a flat!” She said ecstatically, sending Grimmjow an apologetic look when he raised an eyebrow at her. “Sorry, I’m just excited, I’ll go help Ichigo.” She practically danced over to the room and went in, leaving Grimmjow with his parents.

“So, you’re really moving in together?” His mother asked.

“Well, technically we already are living together. But I think Nel’s had enough of us now. We have been gate crashing for a few weeks so we thought it was time to look.” Grimmjow sighed and looked at them both with a small frown. “Can you accept him now, please?”

His mother nodded, moving to pull him into a hug. “We already have, I’m proud of you Grimmjow.”

Grimmjow stiffened slightly, not used to getting praise from her and slowly relaxed, hugging her back.  He stepped away when his father cleared his throat and eyed him warily as he came closer. He knew the man had his problems with Ichigo, whatever they were, but he also knew he was trying to accept their relationship, something he was grateful for.

He stopped in front of his son before holding out his hand and Grimmjow raised an eyebrow before grasping it in his own. He nodded and clapped Grimmjow’s shoulder, making him grin, that was the most acceptance he’d ever gotten from his father.

“Thanks dad.”

He nodded, letting Grimmjow go so he could go into the bedroom and found Ichigo sat on the bed, carefully putting his things into a box. He looked up when the door opened and grinned when he saw it was Grimmjow. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” He glanced at Nel who nodded and left as he sat down next to Ichigo and took his hands, kissing both of them. “We still have one more thing to do.”

“Yeah, what’s that?”

“Tell your father.”

Ichigo's eyes widened in realisation and he groaned. “Fuck, he doesn’t even know I’ve moved in here with you. How the hell is he going to take the fact we’re moving into our own flat together?”

“Dunno, but you’ve gotta tell him sometime.”

Ichigo nodded, sighing heavily. “Yeah, I know, I’ll go down later.” He glanced at Grimmjow and smiled. “Wanna come?”

“Nope, definitely not. Sorry kid but you’re on your own on this one.”

Ichigo scoffed and shoved his shoulder playfully. “Thanks a lot for the support.”

“You’re welcome.” Grimmjow grinned and pulled Ichigo into his arms, bumping their heads together gently. “So, shall we get married soon or what?”

Ichigo laughed, linking his arms around Grimmjow’s neck to kiss him and grinned happily. “Definitely.”


	28. Chapter 28

Epilogue:

_*Two Years Later*_

Grimmjow woke up with a start when he heard a crash and groaned, sitting up slowly. Hearing a yell, he snorted and got up, deciding he'd better go see what had happened this time. Leaving the bedroom, Grimmjow made his way down the hallway, cursing when he slipped and looked down to see it was paint.

"Ichigo!"

"What?" He called from the adjacent room, coming out with a frown. "Can't you see I'm working?"

"Yeah, I noticed." Grimmjow sighed and shook his head. "What happened? Why's there paint everywhere?" Looking down the hallway, he could see small blue footprints leaving a trail from Ichigo's room into the kitchen. "Who got in?"

"Pantera, who else." Ichigo eyes narrowed in annoyance and he jabbed Grimmjow in the chest with his paint brush, leaving a red smear on his skin. "You and your damn cat are annoying as each other."

"Hey don't blame me, she was probably curious."

"Yeah well, keep her out. If she ruins my painting, I'll kill you both." Ichigo glared at him and he couldn't help but chuckle at the adorable sight he made with paint smeared across his cheeks. "What?" Ichigo asked suspiciously when Grimmjow grinned.

"You have paint on your face." Grimmjow cradled his cheek and brushed a splatter, smearing it further on Ichigo's face. "Want to take a shower? I'll help you clean it off."

Ichigo scoffed and batted his had away. "No thanks." With that, he went back inside, slamming the door shut behind him.

Grimmjow shook his head and left Ichigo to it. He knew from experience disturbing the man when he was painting was a bad idea. He went two weeks without speaking to him once when he'd barged in on him, making the orange head jump and ruin an almost finished painting. Grimmjow shuddered at the thought, Ichigo wouldn't sleep in the same bed as him for a whole week.

Ichigo had been working on this one piece for weeks, some hot shot with too much money for their own good hired Ichigo to do a painting for them. He accepted of course, how could he refuse such a large sum, but he'd insisted, it was for the painting, not the money. Which was true, they didn't need the money. After Grimmjow started up his own business in fitness training, it was suffice to say he earnt a fair bit of money. Ichigo's painting fetched quite a bit too. So technically, he didn't need the money.

Grimmjow followed the trail of footprints into the kitchen, sighing when he saw Pantera curled up in the corner, her usual, pristine white fur dripping with an arrange of colours. "Oh Pantera, you really know how to annoy Ichigo." He grinned when the cat purred, he was sure she was smirking and chuckled, scooping her into her arms. "C'mon, you need a bath."

She glared at him, but made no move to escape, she knew who her master was. Grimmjow grinned and shook his head, it sure as hell wasn't Ichigo, he couldn't get her to do anything, even if his life depended on it. He paused outside Ichigo's door and slowly opened it, peering inside.

Ichigo was stood in the middle of the room, sucking on the end of his paintbrush as he observed whatever he was creating. The canvas was turned so Grimmjow couldn't see what it was but he could see from Ichigo's face, it was important. He quietly closed the door, making sure Ichigo didn't notice him before going to clean Pantera.

...

With a final brush of paint, Ichigo stepped back to admire the painting, nodding in satisfaction before putting the brush down. He stretched his aching muscles, groaning when they popped and sighed heavily. "That shower doesn't sound like a bad idea now..."

He left the room, locking the door behind him. No way was he taking any chances with Pantera, she'd ruined too many of his artworks to count. He sighed and shook his head, he knew it was crazy, but he was so sure the cat had it in for him. The thing hated him completely, and whenever he was with Grimmjow, she sure as hell tried to intervene. Ichigo snorted and shook his head, he was going on about a cat here, how pathetic was that?

He found Grimmjow in the living room and to no surprise, Pantera was on his lap, living the high life as he tended to her whims. Ichigo's eyes narrowed in annoyance and he came up behind Grimmjow, wrapping his arms around the man's neck.

"Hey."

Grimmjow started before relaxing again and looking up at him with a grin. "Hey, how's the painting?"

"All finished, just gotta dry."

"Mmm, that's good."

Ichigo chuckled, leaning down to kiss him. "About you offer of a shower, is it still open?"

"Only for you." Grimmjow hooked his arm around Ichigo's neck, pulling him into another kiss. The man touched his cheek and he felt some paint smear and chuckled. "You're getting me covered in paint."

"Then let me clean it off." Ichigo grinned slyly, running his hands down Grimmjow's thankfully bare torso to create a colourful display of smears. "C'mon, before it dries." He caught the older man's face and drew a crude heart on his cheek before kissing him again. "Don't take too long." He whispered against his lips before leaving to go start the shower.

Grimmjow followed his progress to the bathroom and shook his head, Ichigo really was going to be the death of him one day, but he couldn't help but the love the fiery orange head for it. He went to stand up, sighing when Pantera mewled at him and looked at her apologetically. "Sorry Pantera, Ichigo's waiting and you know how he gets."

She glared at him as he picked her up and dropped her back on the sofa as to stand up and make his way to the bathroom. He went in, slowly closing the door behind him before turning to see Ichigo's clothes piled on the floor next to the shower and grinned before discarding his own to join him.

Wrapping his arms around Ichigo's lithe frame, he kissed his shoulder. "Hey."

"Took your time didn't you?"

"Mmm." Grimmjow nuzzled his neck and grinned. "Sorry. But you knew I wouldn't be able to resist."

"Heh, I was counting on it." Ichigo turned around, running his hand through Grimmjow's hair. "Now I've finished my painting, we have all the time in the world."

"Until your next job."

"Hey, if I didn't stay away from you, I'd never finish." Ichigo kissed him, trailing his fingers down Grimmjow's back. "Besides, you have Pantera to keep you company don't you?"

"Yeah, but she can't do this for me." Grimmjow murmured the words, kissing him again before pressing him against the wall. "No-one can replace you when it comes to this."

"Well don't I feel special." Ichigo pressed his hands to Grimmjow's chest, slowly washing to paint off. "So, you gunna make up for lost time or what?"

"Yes sir." Grimmjow caught Ichigo's legs and lifted him up, making the man laugh and wrap them around his waist, before tangling his fingers in Grimmjow's hair and kissing him again. His fingers teased the back of Grimmjow's neck and he grinned when he shivered.

"Missed me huh?"

"It's been a week Ichi. You've been holding out."

"I'm sorry, let me make it up to you." Ichigo whispered, leaning forward to kiss him again, pausing when he heard something smash. "What was that?"

Grimmjow frowned and turned to shower off to listen. Sure enough, a few seconds later, another smash could be heard and he cursed. "Pantera, she must be on the kitchen surface."

Ichigo shrugged, pulling Grimmjow into another kiss. "Ignore her, it's only a few plates. We'll buy new ones."

"Mmm." Grimmjow kissed him again, sighing when something else smashed. "Sorry Ichigo, it's gunna have to wait."

He sighed in frustration and shoved Grimmjow away with an annoyed grunt. "Fine, go see to your precious cat. I'll take care of myself."

"C'mon Ichigo."

He flipped him off as he got out the shower and wrapped a towel firmly around his waist. "Pantera's calling, better see what's wrong." With that, he left the bathroom, shooting the cat a dark look when he saw her watching smugly from the kitchen before going into the bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

Grimmjow hear the door slam shut and sighed, slowly following Ichigo's lead and he paused outside the bedroom door. Hearing a mewl from the kitchen he frowned and shook his head before opening the bedroom door to go inside. He paused when he found Ichigo sat on the bed, looking at him expectantly.

"Well?"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes, walking over to him and smiled. "Well what? Are we doing this or not?" He kissed Ichigo, moving to kneel over him and removed the towel. "I can't believe your jealous of a cat."

Ichigo huffed, a light blush dusting his cheeks. "I am not jealous!"

"Sure you're not." Grimmjow kissed his nose and chuckled. "You don't need to be, she's a cat. You, like I told you a few years ago, are my only."

"Mmm." Ichigo wrapped his arms around Grimmjow's neck and kissed him softly. "Make love to me Grimm."

"With pleasure."

...

Grimmjow nuzzled the back of Ichigo's neck, grinning when he moaned softly and pressed back against him. "Ichi..."

"Grimm?"

"You're warm, I love you."

Ichigo smiled, cradling Grimmjow's hand to his chest. "I love you too." He frowned when the door opened and lifted himself up, scoffing when he saw Pantera slink in. "Looks like your mistress wants you."

Grimmjow groaned and rolled over to see her and sighed, scooping her into his arms and dumped her on the bed. He rolled back to pull Ichigo into his arms again. "There, she's on the bed so she should be fine, now let me enjoy this."

Ichigo smiled and turned over to curl up in his arms and sighed happily. "M'kay."

"Hey Ichigo?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you like Pantera?"

Ichigo sighed and kissed his chest before shrugging. "Dunno, this might sound stupid but I get the feeling she doesn't like us being together."

Grimmjow snorted and looked down at him amusedly. "You're right, that does sound stupid." He chuckled when Ichigo groaned. "Don't worry Ichi, she's a cat, she can't come between us."

Ichigo nodded. "Yeah, I know." He sighed, humming idly as Grimmjow stroked his arm. "Grimmjow?"

"Yeah?"

He sat up to look at him seriously. "We've been together a long time now, and married for two years."

"Mmm?"

Ichigo hesitated, slowly tracing his hand over Grimmjow's chest. "I-" He sighed and shook his head. "It's nothing."

Grimmjow frowned and poked his head. "What is it?"

He blushed and buried his head in Grimmjow's chest in embarrassment. "I want to start a family." He muttered quietly, almost too quietly for Grimmjow to hear.

He frowned down at Ichigo before snorting and smiling softly. "A family huh? Doesn't sound too bad I guess." He paused, grinning at Ichigo when he looked up in surprise. "Of course, we'll need a bigger house. And you'll need a studio so they won't ruin your paintings. A cat's will be nothing compared to kids"

Ichigo stopped him suddenly by pulling him into a kiss and grinned widely. "You're actually thinking about it?"

"I guess?"

Ichigo laughed, moving to sit in Grimmjow's lap and nuzzled his neck. "I love you Grimm. Can you actually believe we used to hate each other? This seems so unbelievable, compared to our past don't you think?"

"Yeah it does." Grimmjow ran his hands down Ichigo's sides, smiling when he shivered. "Me and you, married? Heh, and two years at that. The thought would've seemed laughable five years ago."

"And now?"

"Now it's everything I want. Me and you, and apparently Pantera and a couple of kids. Sounds good to me."

Ichigo smiled and twirled a lock of blue hair between his fingers, grinning mischievously. "Grimm?"

"Yeah?"

"Kick Pantera out of the room. Me and you aint finished by a long shot yet."

Grimmjow frowned in confusion before it dawned on him and he grinned. "Can do Ichi." Scooping the cat into his arms, he unceremoniously dropped her outside the room, sighing when she huffed and stalked away. "I hope you're happy, she's pissed at me now."

"Come back to bed Grimm, I'll make it up to you." Ichigo crawled to the edge of the bed and pulled Grimmjow back onto it, kissing him forcefully. "You are not leaving this bed for the rest of the day, understand?"

"Yup and I completely agree, as long as you stay with me." Wrapping an arm around his waist, Grimmjow flipped Ichigo onto his back and knelt over him. He looked into his brown eyes and felt his heart stutter slightly at the heated expression and he smiled softly. "I love you."

Ichigo's expression softened and he kissed Grimmjow slowly, savouring the moment before pulling away and pressing their foreheads together. He caught Grimmjow's hand and ran his finger over his ring and felt a burst of pride at the fact that the man before him was his, and always will be. "I love you too."


End file.
